Work Requirements Blocked in Arkansas and Kentucky

Oh, this is interesting. Wonder how it will affect Montana's bill.

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Impact of Case Management & Mental Health Cuts on Homeless Veterans

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Our own Helen Matveyeff, prepping food at the Pov This op-ed, written by Jill Bonny, director of The Poverello Center 's veteran's services, further underscores the need for case management and mental health counseling for homeless veterans (It was published in last Sunday's Missoulian but not online): Impact of Case Management & Mental Health Cuts on Homeless Veterans It was a cool September morning when Max was dropped off at the front door of the Poverello Center with only the clothes on his back. Max served our country during Operation Iraqi Freedom and suffers from severe mental health conditions, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to his service. After spending several weeks at the Montana State Hospital, Max had nowhere else to go. Like 30% of the Veteran’s we serve here at the Poverello Center, Max does not qualify for healthcare or mental healthcare benefits through the US Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA). When he was d...
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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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