by Deborah Parkhill Mullis
Staff Writer
When cold winter winds begin to blow, concern for the homeless grows; but programs that bring help to some often overlook a certain percentage of transients - those who are homeless due to chronic mental illness.
According to the N.C. Department of Human Resources, Division of Mental Health Services, the state has some 84,000 adults with severe and persistent mental illness. The Piedmont area made up of Union, Stanly and Cabarrus counties has an estimated 3,121 of these individuals. And many of them are among the homeless.
Faye Benton, chosen as 1989's Advocate of the Year by The North Carolina Alliance for the Mentally Ill, explains chronic mental illness as a physical disease of the brain that can be caused by any number of things.
Greatly simplified, one such cause is chemical imbalances within the body; another cause could be experimentation with drugs which can leave the brain damaged. Popularized methods of treatment such as psychotherapy, rarely cure these individuals.
According to Ms. Benton, a registered nurse and president of the Metrolina Alliance for the Mentally Ill, one reason the chronically mentally ill are homeless is due to a law passed in the '60's stating that in order for a mental patient to be involuntarily hospitalized, he must be considered dangerous to himself or others. This law causes patients to be taken from a structured hospital environment, where their behavior has been controlled by drug therapy, and released onto the streets, Ms. Benton said.
"It's inhuman and it's a shame that we don't have housing and programs for these people and that we just turn them out into the streets," she said.
Ms. Benton has been working hard to change what she refers to as the revolving doors of the state mental hospitals, where "patients are released too soon, only to mess up and end up right back in the hospital."
According to Ms. Benton, in North Carolina before a patient with chronic mental illness is released from a a state institution a hearing is held with a judge, a doctor, a district attorney, a public defender, and the patient. But even when the doctor recommends a patient remain for further treatment, the judge normally allows them to leave according to this law, Ms. Benton said.
Her work as a member of the Human Rights Committee at Broughton Hospital in Morganton was instrumental in her winning the advocate award.
Broughton services the chronically mentally ill from 35 N.C. counties, including Union and Mecklenburg. Union County has as many as 10 to 12 people at Broughton on any given day.
Ms. Benton, an outspoken committee member, has insisted on better understanding from the judges, better conditions in the hospitals, and more activities for the patients. She and the committee are also fighting for continuing care so that when a patient leaves the hospital he has somewhere to go.
"There are some that are sent home to their families, but in most cases the families can't take care of them and they end up on the streets," she said.
Ms. Benton claims that money taken from the state institutions during the institutionalization was supposed to be given back to the communities so that housing and services could be provided for chronically mentally ill individuals who were released. The money never reached the communities, Ms. Benton said.
"The housing lists (for those with chronic mental illness) go on and on. Group homes are something we need a lot more of. We have fought and worked hard for the past five years and we finally have two group homes in Charlotte. There's six patients in each one. That can tell you something when there's over 7,000 that need assistance, " Ms. Benton said.
Successful fund-raising efforts efforts were another factor in Ms. Benton being chosen as the 1989 advocate. She managed to get members of The Metrolina Alliance for the Mentally Ill on the agenda at the Mecklenburg County Commissioners Annual Budget Meeting.
"I pushed our group to get as much funding as we could because, as you can see, that's the bottom line ... and they (the commissioners) just about flipped out of their chairs after hearing six families tell their stories. We ended up getting $350,000 over and above what we had been getting," Ms. Benton said.
Also during 1989, the state allocated an extra $3 million to the mentally ill after all 40 chapters of North Carolina's Alliance for the Mentally Ill rallied in Raleigh; $200,000 of which will go to the Metrolina area.
"It's not a lot but it's a beginning ... $200,000 would probably operate one group home for one year, " Ms. Benton said.
For this reason, she would like to see the money spent on several case managers. Each one could work with as many as 20 chronic mentally ill people in the community. She would also like to see more programs for those in the community and those in state hospitals..
"We need to get more programs going 'cause mostly what they're all doing (in state hospitals) is walking the floors, smoking cigarettes, and watching TV. And out in the communities, vocational rehabilitation for the mentally ill is almost non-existent," she said.
Ms. Benton said a case manager could help those chronically mental ill persons who are able to work obtain jobs. A case manager can go to prospective employers and explain, "This person is wonderful with animals. He can come in and clean their pens. He can love them and take care of them, but due to a physical disease of his brain he may occasionally talk to himself. He's not dangerous. If there is a problem with his work performance call me."
"It's a big fight. There's a lot of work to be done. These people deserve a chance. They need to be given a reason to live," Ms. Benton said.
(Deborah's article was originally published by The Enquirer-Journal on January 7, 1990)
Staff Writer
When cold winter winds begin to blow, concern for the homeless grows; but programs that bring help to some often overlook a certain percentage of transients - those who are homeless due to chronic mental illness.
According to the N.C. Department of Human Resources, Division of Mental Health Services, the state has some 84,000 adults with severe and persistent mental illness. The Piedmont area made up of Union, Stanly and Cabarrus counties has an estimated 3,121 of these individuals. And many of them are among the homeless.
Faye Benton, chosen as 1989's Advocate of the Year by The North Carolina Alliance for the Mentally Ill, explains chronic mental illness as a physical disease of the brain that can be caused by any number of things.
Greatly simplified, one such cause is chemical imbalances within the body; another cause could be experimentation with drugs which can leave the brain damaged. Popularized methods of treatment such as psychotherapy, rarely cure these individuals.
According to Ms. Benton, a registered nurse and president of the Metrolina Alliance for the Mentally Ill, one reason the chronically mentally ill are homeless is due to a law passed in the '60's stating that in order for a mental patient to be involuntarily hospitalized, he must be considered dangerous to himself or others. This law causes patients to be taken from a structured hospital environment, where their behavior has been controlled by drug therapy, and released onto the streets, Ms. Benton said.
"It's inhuman and it's a shame that we don't have housing and programs for these people and that we just turn them out into the streets," she said.
Ms. Benton has been working hard to change what she refers to as the revolving doors of the state mental hospitals, where "patients are released too soon, only to mess up and end up right back in the hospital."
According to Ms. Benton, in North Carolina before a patient with chronic mental illness is released from a a state institution a hearing is held with a judge, a doctor, a district attorney, a public defender, and the patient. But even when the doctor recommends a patient remain for further treatment, the judge normally allows them to leave according to this law, Ms. Benton said.
Her work as a member of the Human Rights Committee at Broughton Hospital in Morganton was instrumental in her winning the advocate award.
Broughton services the chronically mentally ill from 35 N.C. counties, including Union and Mecklenburg. Union County has as many as 10 to 12 people at Broughton on any given day.
Ms. Benton, an outspoken committee member, has insisted on better understanding from the judges, better conditions in the hospitals, and more activities for the patients. She and the committee are also fighting for continuing care so that when a patient leaves the hospital he has somewhere to go.
"There are some that are sent home to their families, but in most cases the families can't take care of them and they end up on the streets," she said.
Ms. Benton claims that money taken from the state institutions during the institutionalization was supposed to be given back to the communities so that housing and services could be provided for chronically mentally ill individuals who were released. The money never reached the communities, Ms. Benton said.
"The housing lists (for those with chronic mental illness) go on and on. Group homes are something we need a lot more of. We have fought and worked hard for the past five years and we finally have two group homes in Charlotte. There's six patients in each one. That can tell you something when there's over 7,000 that need assistance, " Ms. Benton said.
Successful fund-raising efforts efforts were another factor in Ms. Benton being chosen as the 1989 advocate. She managed to get members of The Metrolina Alliance for the Mentally Ill on the agenda at the Mecklenburg County Commissioners Annual Budget Meeting.
"I pushed our group to get as much funding as we could because, as you can see, that's the bottom line ... and they (the commissioners) just about flipped out of their chairs after hearing six families tell their stories. We ended up getting $350,000 over and above what we had been getting," Ms. Benton said.
Also during 1989, the state allocated an extra $3 million to the mentally ill after all 40 chapters of North Carolina's Alliance for the Mentally Ill rallied in Raleigh; $200,000 of which will go to the Metrolina area.
"It's not a lot but it's a beginning ... $200,000 would probably operate one group home for one year, " Ms. Benton said.
For this reason, she would like to see the money spent on several case managers. Each one could work with as many as 20 chronic mentally ill people in the community. She would also like to see more programs for those in the community and those in state hospitals..
"We need to get more programs going 'cause mostly what they're all doing (in state hospitals) is walking the floors, smoking cigarettes, and watching TV. And out in the communities, vocational rehabilitation for the mentally ill is almost non-existent," she said.
Ms. Benton said a case manager could help those chronically mental ill persons who are able to work obtain jobs. A case manager can go to prospective employers and explain, "This person is wonderful with animals. He can come in and clean their pens. He can love them and take care of them, but due to a physical disease of his brain he may occasionally talk to himself. He's not dangerous. If there is a problem with his work performance call me."
"It's a big fight. There's a lot of work to be done. These people deserve a chance. They need to be given a reason to live," Ms. Benton said.
(Deborah's article was originally published by The Enquirer-Journal on January 7, 1990)
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