"Unless our state legislature is able to reverse course from a recent history of harmful cutbacks and misdirected priorities, we worry that our public safety will continue to be compromised," say David Black, a residential counselor with Community Psychiatric Clinic and Zandrea Hardison, an RN with the Program of Assertive Community Treatment at the Downtown Emergency Service Center.

"Effective treatment for mental illness works, when it's available," says Black in an article for the Washington Forum. "When seriously mentally ill people have access to treatment, they are no more prone to harming others or themselves, than any member of the general population. Mental illness does not need to be linked to violence and premature death, and it is important not to stigmatize mentally ill people as a group. But for people who don't have access to appropriate care, severe mental illness often means exposure to increased risk. People with untreated mental illness die on average 25 years younger than the general population. They are more likely to succumb to substance abuse and chronic homelessness; and more likely to become victims of street crime."

"That's why effective mental health care is so important, especially these days when unemployment, foreclosures and other economic challenges are putting extra pressure on the vulnerable people who are closest to the breaking point," Hardison says.

"Effective mental health treatment also saves money by reducing the pressure on crowded emergency rooms and jails which are ill-suited to provide the most effective forms of care for mentally ill people," she continues. "The Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC)'s 1811 Eastlake Housing First program provides a strong example of cost savings. Before the initial group of clients moved in, they cost taxpayers an average of $4,066 a month for emergency services, detox and jail. Once they entered the program, however, those costs dropped 75 percent, saving the public some $4 million in the first year alone."

"We need to make sure that our legislators' attention is focused not just on drawing down the state's fiscal deficit, but also on reducing the human deficit -- including the 200,000 mentally ill Washingtonians who have no access to mental health care," Black explains. "A rigid, cuts-only approach won't work -- especially since the cuts being discussed now will fall disproportionately on the people who are already hurting the most. New revenues should also be on the table, alongside proposed cuts. Finally, the legislature must get serious about ending corporate tax loopholes -- starting with hundreds of millions worth of sweetheart tax exemptions for banks, financial services, credit agencies and other white-collar services."

"It really is a simple choice," Black and Hardison conclude. "Maintaining essential mental health services will save both lives and money. But a penny wise, pound foolish all-cuts approach will damage a safety net already badly frayed."

When weighing in on Washington's daunting budget deficit, our legislators need to make sure that they are focused not just on drawing down the state's fiscal deficit, but also on reducing the human deficit which includes the 200,000 mentally ill Washingtonians who have no access to mental health care.

A rigid, cuts-only approach won't work in solving the budget crisis, especially since the cuts being discussed will fall disproportionately on the people who are already hurting the most. New revenues should also be on the table, alongside the proposed cuts. Finally, the legislature must get serious about ending corporate tax loopholes -- starting with hundreds of millions worth of sweetheart tax exemptions for banks, financial services, credit agencies and other white-collar services.

It really is a simple choice. Maintaining essential mental health services will save both lives and money. But further cuts will damage a safety net already badly frayed, and will open the door to more preventable tragedies.

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