Metro Detroit MH advocates call for stronger safety net

Abstract

While many efforts at the state, local and federal levels are underway to address mental health issues in Michigan, Metro Detroit professionals say more early intervention, coverage options and support systems are needed to create a stronger safety net, The Detroit News reported Feb. 19. The issues related to treating mental health cases across the region were the focus of a town hall hosted by U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democrat from Rochester Hills. The forum coincided with efforts statewide and across the country to address what some advocates are calling a crisis in mental health care. Among the initiatives launched to address mental health, Kevin Fischer told the audience about NAMI's “Ending the Silence” presentation that trains community members to learn about the warning signs of mental health conditions and what steps to take. Beaumont Health said in a news release in December that, with Universal Health Services, construction would begin in 2020 on a 150‐bed mental health hospital in Dearborn “to address the state's growing, unmet need for accessible, high‐quality and advanced mental health services” and said the mental health plans “extend beyond the walls of the new facility.”