AUGUSTA - The Maine Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services advanced LD 1586, a measure to strengthen statewide mental health services, on Tuesday.
LD 1586, sponsored by Rep. Charlotte Warren, D-Hallowell, provides expanded mental health resources, including peer support, crisis lines, crisis intervention mobile response and community-based services to Maines eight public health districts. The bill was amended to include portions of LD 968, a bill sponsored by Rep. Laura Supica, D-Bangor.
"The proof that we need these services can be seen in our overflowing jails and prison system with folks who are struggling with serious mental health issues," said Warren. "We are currently serving people with mental health issues, but we are serving them in our county jails and in our prisons, at a very high cost to us all and nothing to show for it. For me, LD 1586 offers an alternative. Instead of a police officer making the determination of what happens to somebody while in crisis, a mental health professional who is trained to do this work will be at the scene. This amended bill further strengthens our mental health system, and in turn, will lower our rates of incarceration."
"Daily, in the city of Bangor, our police are responding to mental health crisis calls that pull them from their work of actual law enforcement," said Supica. "It's not good for a person in need and its not good for the officer who is placed in an impossible situation. One of the ways Bangor is working to support those with mental health issues is by trying to increase access to suitable, affordable housing, but all these efforts and resources are for nothing if, when folks reach out for help, the appropriate people are not there to respond. That's why I have worked on this measure with support from the Bangor Police Department."
LD 1586 faces further votes in the House and Senate.
Warren, House chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety, is serving her fourth term in the Maine House of Representatives and represents Hallowell, Manchester and West Gardiner. Supica, a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs, is serving her first term and represents part of Bangor.
Contact:
Jackie Merrill [Warren, Supica], c. 812-1111