State Senate to consider bills on mental health

PROVIDENCE – The state Senate has moved forward on approving the first bills of what is expected to be a 14bill package of mental health reform and support legislation Senate President Dominick Ruggerio hopes will gain full legislative approve in the current session of the General Assembly.

The Senate last Thursday passed six bills of the package and also saw committee approval of two others that are expected to be considered in the Senate this week. Another six bills completing the package are moving through the committee review process.

The bills approved unanimously by the Senate included a bill expanding home visiting services for eligible at risk families, a bill establishing the presumption of eligibility of coverage for care when a patient initially presents at a hospital or ER, a bill directing the Executive Office of Heath & Human Services to apply for federal waivers allowing the homeless access to supportive housing service and mobile outreach, and a bill directing funding to police and correctional officer training programs for mental health related training.

Senator Joshua Miller, chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, said the six bills considered and recommended by his committee were the result of a study process begun in the fall of 2016 that included a series of five hearings aimed at assessing the status of mental health services in the state and coming up with recommendations for legislative action, planning, and policy development.

“We heard from approximately 45 knowledgeable individuals who provided public testimony concerning the serious mental health issues impacting Rhode Island,” Miller said.

The testimony at the hearings described Rhode Island as spending far too much on hospitalization and institutionalization, including incarceration, for those with mental illness.

“There is Eleanor Slater (state hospital), the ACI, a handful of group homes and homeless shelters,” Miller noted. “The system is broken and the state needs to invest money and resources,” he said while noting a need for alternative care programs.

“Rhode Island has the sixth highest rate in the nation, 14.3 percent, for youth attempting suicide,” Miller said. “There is an average of one suicide every three days in Rhode Island,” he added.

Of those with diagnosable mental health conditions in the state, only 40 percent of that number actually get care,” he said.

“Rhode Island lacks the intermediate level of services, Rhode Island lacks ancillary services. The public and private behavioral health services are largely disconnected,” he said.