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More chairs needed at the Dix negotiating table

Submitted by scharrison on Tue, 12/04/2012 - 10:43am

3,000 more chairs, to be precise:

The county, spending $22 million a year on mental health, had “imbedded” care for those groups into widespread operations and clinics. Now each part of the care that Wake County had offered through its Human Services Department must be examined as part of the ongoing “divestiture.” That means some other private or nonprofit entity will likely take over the work through a contract with Alliance.

There appears to be a whole lot of potential cracks for these patients to fall through, and part of this park deal should be an agreement by the State and Raleigh/Wake to make sure that doesn't happen.

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I have a question

Submitted by scharrison on Tue, 12/04/2012 - 10:51am.

Wake County resident Ann Akland, a longtime advocate for people with mental illness, notes that Wake has an unusually large number of clients, partly because of the closing of Dorothea Dix state hospital. “When Dix was in the phase-out status, they released 500 people in Wake County,” Akland said. “They have very serious problems. They also have some physical issues, so the total health of the person is more complex than someone who is only suffering from depression.”

The former Dix patients and many others have been treated as outpatients by Wake County, in many cases by the same professionals for years.

I understand Medicaid dollars are (partly) provided by the State, but did Wake County receive any other special assistance for absorbing the Dix patients?

Berger throws tantrum

Submitted by scharrison on Tue, 12/04/2012 - 11:20am.

SenatorBerger 9:43am via web We will evaluate options to terminate this ill-conceived lease and reclaim this land on behalf of its real owners: the people of NC #ncga

And we'll be watching every step you take, at least the steps you let us see. There's more to this than meets the eye, and the proof is in that (2nd) robocall I received last night courtesy of not-the-bus-driver Dallas Woodhouse and Americans for the Prosperous.

Somebody spent a lot of money opposing this, and I doubt very seriously if it was strictly ideological in nature.

Ann Akland was at the table for COS vote, but..,

Submitted by Martha Brock on Tue, 12/04/2012 - 1:31pm.

apparently to support a park and not to represent folks with mental illness. NAMI is not the advocate for people like me. My opinion: Ann is more interested in her own political ambitions and being interviewed by the media than she is sincerely interested in the well-being of those she should be representing.

Update: I made this statement based on erroneous info. My apology to Ann. However, i stand by my statement that NAMI NC does NOT represent my views. I get tired of the media using Deby Dihoff or Ann Akland as the sole source anytime something involving mental health is an issue.

For those of you in the media, i have been an adovocate for persons with disabilities since 1988. Ann Akland as been an advocate only 10 years. Want someone who knows the background and the context? Why always use the same sources?

Martha Brock