Services for Mentally Ill
Re “Protect the Mentally Ill,” editorial, Sept. 27.
The mentally ill are powerless. Treatment and services continue to diminish year after year. The recent merger of Behavioral Mental Health with the Public Social Services Agency is a clear example of how the mentally ill are being misused for political reasons.
The rationale for the merger to stop the diversion of mental health funds to Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC) is absurd. This practice had been going on for many years even under former Mental Health Director Randy Feltman, and the county supervisors knew about it. Advocates for the mentally ill resent such practice, and now that Dr. Pierre Durand has been successful in getting the VCMC out of the red, the advocates want to stop this practice. However, it seems that what our politicians want now is to save the welfare agency by again using the funds for the mentally ill.
Wake up, fellow citizens, and ask your supervisor to rescind this merger right now.
HELEN Q. JONES, Camarillo
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