Once more we are seeing cuts to services for
mental health problems in our province.
This time the cuts have been kept under wraps by the Ministry of Child
& Family Development [MCFD]. A
directive went out late last year for local managers to cut “full-time
equivalency” by 8%. What this means is
that as positions come vacant within MCFD, managers are not to hire new staff
until staffing levels across BC are reduced by 8%.
What this also means is that Social Workers -
who already have case loads ridiculously high - will now be expected to take on
more cases and services to families in crisis will suffer.
The evidence of how this is shaking down can
be found in my own hometown of Summerland.
As of January 1st, 2013, the local MCFD office no longer
performs intake for children and families in need, nor will they respond to crisis or child or spousal abuse reports. Children and families who are in crisis must
apply for services in the nearby town of Penticton.
Penticton is only a 15 minute drive away,
but if a family in crisis doesn’t have a vehicle or can’t convince someone to
drive them, they are out of luck – there is no rapid transit between the towns
and Greyhound - the only commercial transportation available - just drastically
cut their services in the region.
Centralizing investigations and intake at
MCFD was attempted back in the 90s and failed miserably. And it’s starting to fail this time already;
A local community leader was approached by a child who had tried to get help
from MCFD in Penticton and has been passed between five different Social
Workers in the past two weeks. And
nothing has been done for this child.
Please don’t get me wrong; This isn’t an
indictment of our Social Workers. They
are on our side - They are just as frustrated and heartsick with the ongoing
cuts as we are. As one Social Worker
told be recently when I asked how things were going at MCFD; “Chaos. Utter chaos.”
Both our Federal and Provincial governments
have been playing the “fiscal responsibility” card when explaining the cuts to
needed services over the past eight years.
To put it bluntly; They are full of crap.
Here are some startling facts about the financial
impact of mental health issues, released last year by the Mental Health
Commission of Canada;
- 1 in 5 Canadians have a diagnosable mental health problem
- Every day, 500,000 people miss work because of mental health problems
- Mental health problems cost the Canadian economy a staggering $50 billion each year – No, that isn’t a typo: $50 BILLION per year
How does cutting services that can reduce
those numbers be called fiscally responsible?
A study by Simon Fraser University’s Centre
for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction (CARMA) estimated that in
British Columbia, the current financial cost to taxpayers for services to
homeless people with severe addictions and/or mental illness is $55,000 a year
per person. In contrast, providing these people with adequate housing and
supports costs $37,000 a year per person. This would save taxpayers $211 million
dollars a year in direct costs.
Here’s another angle that I can provide;
In my private practice I specialize in
anxiety & mood disorders including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
[OCD] among others. I am surprised at how many of my
clients arrive at my office in crisis with OCD and I’m pleased to report that
by using a client-specific tailored treatment plan my clients have found relief
from their symptoms [without medication] by the second session and are able to
manage their disorder within 10 – 12 sessions.
I also offer a greatly reduced rate [$30 per
session] to anyone referred through three local non-profit outreach agencies who see
low income individuals and families on a daily basis. I do this because I believe in the Civic
Humanist ethical tenet that if one makes a living within a society, one must
give back to that society.
I also am willing to do home sessions in
some cases.
With that in mind, I’d be willing to offer
the same to children, youth, and families in crisis referred by MCFD.
So let’s do THAT math; If an individual was
referred to me by MCFD who was struggling with debilitating OCD [as an example] and I worked
with them for 12 sessions to relieve their symptoms and they were then able to
manage their disorder and return to normal functioning within the workforce, it
would cost MCFD a whopping $360.00.
And I'm pretty sure I could convince many of my colleagues with the Canadian Professional Counsellors Association to do the same.
So if MCFD and other government agencies across Canada chose to stop making excuses for the cuts to their budgets and take advantage of effective mental health professionals offering some real solutions, we could make some solid headway in reducing that $50 billion annual loss.
And that, my friends, would be true fiscal
responsibility.
Aaron D. McClelland, RPC –
www.interiorcounselling.com/aaron
