The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 shifted responsibility for administration of federal community mental health program funds from local regional commissions to the states. As a result, the Department of Mental Health is caught in conflict between its responsibilities for grant making, statutory limitations imposed on its oversight of the internal operations of regional mental health centers, and the desire of many of the regional commissions to decelerate the trend toward service/population specific funding for federal and state funds.
Critical policy decisions must be made to resolve the conflict, since the state is assuming an increasing responsibility for funding mental health services. Further, a relatively high contribution for mental health by some of the state’s poorer counties illustrates the extent of untapped local effort in other counties. Fiscal commitments made by the participating counties should be considered as a component in state funding decisions.
Finally, an analysis of the level of continuity in patient care between the state hospitals and the regional centers supports the need for targeted reimbursement criteria. More than half of the patients reviewed failed to receive one or more of the basic services that are indicative of good continuity of care.
For a paper copy of this report, contact PEER by telephone at 601-359-1226 or by e-mail at reports@peer.ms.gov.