Abele picked up right where Walker left off, allowing things to deteriorate even more and then deciding to abandon these most vulnerable citizens altogether. When the Milwaukee County Board tried to put some common sense safety measures in place, Abele went to the state legislature, bought himself some legislators, and had a bill passed which cut the board out of the mental health system.I warned at the time that it was a really bad idea.
Sure enough, Walker, who called the mental health system "a natural disaster" - forgetting that he was the cause of the disaster - has again failed in his duties and responsibilities to them:
Gov. Scott Walker missed the deadline Monday to name all members to a new board to oversee mental health care in Milwaukee County.If anyone is shocked by this, they should be ashamed of themselves. There was no reason on earth why anyone should think that Walker was concerned about the well being of these people. They don't have enough money to be even a blip on Walker's radar.
Walker named seven of his 11 appointments but needs more information before he can name the other four, according to Laurel Patrick, his spokeswoman.
Patrick said in an email Monday that two more members — a substance abuse specialist and a consumer of mental health services — would be named later this week, once they are vetted. The final two — a lawyer and a consumer — will be named once all candidates for those slots submit their paperwork.
Mary Neubauer, who will serve on the board by virtue of her position as co-chair of the Milwaukee Mental Health Task Force, said she was bothered by Walker's failure to name the full board by Monday's deadline.
"It's not like they didn't have the names," Neubauer said.
Patrick said the nine members were enough for the board to be "operational and function."
But, Neubauer said, without all members named, they would not be able to meet.
"It's very frustrating," she said.
But don't expect the paper to push on this issue or for anyone to raise their voice in protest.
After all, it's like Kelly Rindfleisch said..."No one care about crazy people."
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Walker should spend a day and a night in a state mental hospital and a state high security prison. He needs to know there's more than wine and wickets on the mansion lawn and more than purring on David Koch's lap, too.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Thanks for following -- this is even better than all of your walkergate and dumpster-O-fun posts combined!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to inadequate mental health, you sure know your stuff, Capper! Thanks for demonstrating this.
Capper more-than knows his stuff about inadequate mental health care. He is a flaming example.
ReplyDeleteNice job adding something meaningful to the discussion. Your comment helps everyone understand this situation.
DeleteI know little about mental health care in Milwaukee, but in our rural and sparsely populated county, our county social workers spend a lot of time working with people dealing with mental health issues. Due to severe budget cuts our social workers are overloaded, and we can thank the clown in the gov's office for this. Walker's ideals have created a dangerous situation for people with mental health issues as well as their families. When Anon at 7:34 makes a comment like he or she did, it shows a lack of character, morals, and intelligence. So when you make a comment Walker (you may not be him but do share his beliefs), pull your head out of your rear before you choose to write. If there is something you can write to defend what Walker and Abele are doing please give us some useful information.
Most mental health systems in this country are inadequate, however Minnesota's is a leap in front of ours. As an advocate, I have seen & participated in attempts to change but been disappointed by poor follow-through by individual counties and inadequate funding at state & county levels. The failure to take the Medicaid expansion greivously hurt mentally ill adults who often live in or around the poverty line and can no longer afford medication and lack multiple resources to access ACA policies.
ReplyDeleteThe consistent failure to reexamine crisis protocol in light of systemic challenges threatens the urban and rural crisis systems that have huge inconsistencies in training due to budget priorities by city and county as well as department
Finally, the obvious disregard the committee seems to hold for consumer advocates or any sort of recovery perspective provides little chance of constructive reform,