TITLE
Recommendation to respectfully request that the City Manager look at the feasibility of creating a full-time Mental Health Coordinator position within the Department of Health and Human Services to be potentially funded by non-local government sources, including Proposition 63, private grants and other non-general fund sources.
DISCUSSION
Mental illness is an under-addressed issue that has a strong impact on people in the City of Long Beach. In terms of resources, programs, education and funding, mental health does not exist on parity with physical health. But the debilitating effects, costs and amount of human suffering caused by mental illness are equally grave and serious.
Erasing the negative stigma, shame and ignorance regarding mental illness are important responsibilities in the fight for services and treatments.
Many members of the general population do not have adequate information and access to needed mental health care. Mental illness occurs with varying degrees of severity, ranging from mild to severe and can affect all people regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status.
Background
According to the Washington DC based Center for Mental Health Outreach, about one in five adults suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. About 20 percent of children are estimated to have mental disorders with at least mild functional impairment, and twelve percent of all children experience serious emotional disturbances. Unfortunately, nearly two-thirds of all people with diagnosable mental disorders do not seek treatment. When these data are applied to the City of Long Beach, approximately 100,000 are estimated to suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in anyone year, 66,000 of whom do not seek treatment. The impact of nontreatment is seen in a number of settings, from worksite absenteeism to diminished performance in schools to incarceration in jails.
The problems associated with mental illness are often compoun...
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