By Sherri Blevins
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On April 3, 2024, the Alabama Association of County Commissioners (ACCA) held a press conference to show its support for two mental health bills. Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter, Mental Health Commissioner Kim Boswell, Senator Will Barfoot, and Representative Russell Bedsole spoke about the impact SB 240 and HB 359 could make on the treatment of individuals who have a mental illness and a secondary substance abuse disorder.
SB 240 and HB 359 both read: To provide for the commitment of respondents who meet the criteria for involuntary commitment to the custody of the Alabama Department of Mental Health to include individuals suffering from a substance use disorder that occurs secondarily to a primary diagnosis of one or more mental illnesses.
Speaker Ledbetter spoke at the press conference to emphasize how strongly he supported this mental health initiative and improvements to Alabama’s mental health system. Ledbetter shared how his passion for improving mental health treatment developed when he was still the House Majority Leader. Ledbetter told the story of a visit he had at the Capitol from individuals who had been affected by the mental health system. Ledbetter said, “ Back a couple of years ago, we had a meeting with Governor Ivey and our leadership to go over what was good in Alabama, what we need to do, and what we need to change. It just so happened I had a meeting in my office that day. It is one of those things that reminds you of why we do what we do. As Majority Leader at the time, I had a group of folks in my office and two groups waiting. I went through the ordeal of trying to get everybody out without wasting a lot of their time. In the next group that was in line, there was a lady from CED Mental Health, which is in my home district. She had some people with her that were talking to me about what was going on in their lives and the mental health system. That particular day, one lady talked to me about her son. She told me she had done some research on me and that she knew I had two sons and four grandchildren. I told her I did, and I knew I was a blessed man. She then asked me some questions. She asked, ‘What if one of your sons got into problems with mental health, and you didn’t know where to turn to, and it continued to get worse and worse, and the system completely failed him? What if one afternoon, he got into an altercation with a police officer, and during that altercation, he was shot and killed?’ With everything going on and everything we were doing, everything came to a screeching halt. I got to thinking about my own kids. That day, she looked me in the eye and said, ‘That is what happened to my child.’”
Ledbetter continued, “We had a meeting with the Gov. later that afternoon. We were touting how good the economy was and how good things were happening in the state. I told the Gov. that day that our economy was growing at a pace nobody has ever seen, and we were so proud of that and what we have done, but Gov., we are failing the people of Alabama miserably when it comes to mental health. During that time, she asked me if she asked me to work on that would I do so. I said that if you asked me, I would do it. She replied, “I am asking.” We were able to bring people from across the state, from education to probate judges to law enforcement officers and mental health, together to talk about what we thought we could do. With that, we put a package together. Today, we have six Crises-of-Care Centers, fourteen mobile units, and every school system in Alabama has a paid mental health coordinator.”
Ledbetter praised Commissioner Boswell on her job performance and said Alabama is much better off when it comes to mental health treatment than it was in 2018.
Commissioner Boswell also spoke about the advances in mental health treatment. She reported that significant strides had been made through expanding and strengthening the Alabama Crises System of Care. This system exists to keep people out of jail, particularly individuals with mental health and substance abuse disorders. Boswell said the program wants to keep these individuals out of jails and emergency room departments where they often have long waits and don’t get any help.
Boswell explained that while the Crises System of Care improves care for people who are willing to go to treatment, the number of individuals who need a civil commitment to get treatment has drastically increased. She said there are not enough beds to address the need, and often, individuals who have mental health conditions will treat their symptoms by medicating with other substances. This can result in repeated civil commitments because the substance use disorder is left untreated, and worse, it can result in an arrest because of the substance use. This bill is a step toward supporting our probate judges and giving them the clarifying language they need to help people get into treatment. In addition, it provides an opportunity to coordinate with local and state opioid settlement funds so that the settlement dollars go to the people who really need the services.
There are nine legislative days left in this year’s session. If the bills are approved, the Governor may then sign them into law.
