Escondido
Ken- you are absolutely right. If the general population only knew the degree to which Reagan has hurt this country over the long term with his policies… and I voted for the guy!~
Before Reagan emptied the hospitals, there were 500,000 beds available for the mentally ill. Today, there are only 50,000 available beds nationally- and our population is much higher now. 50,000 is just a fraction of what we need. Closing the hospitals and reducing services for the mentally ill has cost this nation billions and billions of dollars because scores of other social services have been trying to pick of the pieces, all the while these dear folks are not being helped, but pretty much just warehoused, i.e. jails and prisons, multiple short visits to county hospitals, etc. In order to address the needs of a mentally ill person during their first episode, they need to be hospitalized for at least 6-12 months. IF insurance is available, the stay is probably just one week. Our system is broken.