Mental health advocates rally for a robust mental health system

Mental health advocates from across the state convened at the Statehouse to raise awareness that support services are important to Kansas communities.

The Kansas Mental Health Coalition is sponsoring Tuesday’s event. It started with more than 350 members of the Kansas Mental Health Coalition, advocates, patients and supports at an advocacy rally on the south side of the Statehouse.

“Our biggest fears in the state of Kansas is that we will have continues erosion of the both outpatient and inpatient mental health services,” said Susan Crain Lewis, president, Kansas Mental Health Coalition.

Crain Lewis says that the cuts in mental health funding will leave patients needing help without care.

“When those services are not available those individuals that end up in crisis, they end up on our streets, they end up in our jails, they end up in our emergency rooms; none of the places are they getting treatment,” she said.

In the afternoon Crain Lewis says that an informational hearing on the Adult Continuum of Care Report will be held. She says it is a step in the right direction discussing what a robust, effective mental health delivery system looks like.