Too Little, Too Late for Case Management?


Think of case management as the glue that holds a troubled or disabled person’s life together. When that glue was dissolved by huge state budget cuts in 2017, the lives of some people on the margins began to crumble. Now, the legislature is trying to restore perhaps $3 million for case management, but it may be too little, too late or too dissipated to help all those who were affected, especially in rural areas. That, in essence, is the message of the Behavioral Health Alliance, which represents addiction and mental health providers in Montana. A leading indicator of the impact of the budget cuts is that involuntary mental health commitments are up, according to Mary Windecker, executive director of the alliance. More people are being treated in the hospital, a much more costly result, than in a community setting, and often the first point of contact is with law enforcement, with officers often taking hours to deal with mental-health crises.

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