Is Nevada Solving Its Mental Health Crisis by Busing Patients to Other States?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion focuses on Nevada's approach to handling mental health patients amid budget cuts, specifically the practice of busing patients to other states. Participants explore the implications of this practice, including ethical concerns, historical context, and comparisons to other regions and policies.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Historical

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express that busing mental health patients to other states is a form of "criminal neglect," highlighting the lack of proper care and support for these individuals.
  • There are references to historical precedents, with one participant noting that similar practices occurred in the 1980s due to federal budget cuts and deinstitutionalization, leading to increased homelessness.
  • Another participant draws a parallel to the UK’s "care in the community" policy initiated by Thatcher, suggesting that the UK did not resort to busing patients as Nevada has.
  • Concerns are raised about the long-term consequences for patients, with one participant questioning how many may end up incarcerated due to lack of support.
  • Some participants discuss the broader implications of mental health care funding and the responsibilities of the state versus the individual taxpayer.
  • A personal perspective is shared by someone with mental health issues, emphasizing the emotional impact of the situation and the need for accountability.
  • One participant mentions the challenges faced by mentally challenged individuals in Canada, indicating that while they are not bused, they still face significant systemic issues.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express strong disapproval of Nevada's busing practices, with multiple competing views on the implications and historical context of such actions. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the best approach to mental health care funding and support.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference historical policies and practices, but there are no settled conclusions about the effectiveness or morality of current approaches. The discussion reflects a range of opinions on the responsibilities of the state and the impact of budget cuts on mental health services.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals concerned with mental health policy, social justice advocates, and those studying the historical context of mental health care in the United States and beyond.

russ_watters
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"Dumping" Mental Health Patients

State budget cuts making it tough to afford to care for your state's (Nevada's) mental patients? No problem, just drop them off at the bus stop with a ticket to California! Problem solved!
Faced with deep budget cuts, Nevada's main public psychiatric hospital has bused more than 1,500 patients from Las Vegas to other states during the past five years, a Sacramento Bee investigation has found.

Some patients apparently had no family in or connections to the 176 cities in 45 states where Greyhound buses deposited them after one-way trips from Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital. About one third wound up in California...

The state's actions came under scrutiny in February after 48-year-old James Flavy Coy Brown, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, turned up at a Sacramento homeless shelter confused and suicidal. He had been to the California capital and knew no one.

His papers from Southern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services read: "Discharge to Greyhound bus station by taxi with 3 day supply of medication" and provided a vague suggestion for further treatment: "Follow up with medical doctor in California." Brown said staff at Rawson-Neal advised him to call 911 when he arrived in Sacramento.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/17/nevada-buses-mentally-ill/2091727/

Sounds like criminal neglect to me.
 
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russ_watters said:
Sounds like criminal neglect to me.

This is totally ridiculous...
 
They should at least be shipped to Washington, where they're fit right in.
 
russ_watters said:
State budget cuts making it tough to afford to care for your state's (Nevada's) mental patients? No problem, just drop them off at the bus stop with a ticket to California! Problem solved! http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/17/nevada-buses-mentally-ill/2091727/

Sounds like criminal neglect to me.
This is nothing new - it happened duing the 1980s when the Federal government reduced support to states, and states started cutting budgets, and the mentally ill were deinstitutionalized. Some metropolitan areas put people on buses and sent them elsewhere. It was certainly a problem in Texas, where I lived, and homeless people in large and medium size cities increased. My wife worked in a mental health facility, and they experienced a dramatic rise in case load during the late 80s compared to earlier in the decade.
 
Astronuc said:
This is nothing new - it happened duing the 1980s

Thatcher started a similar "care in the community" policy in the UK, based on some policy strategy reports going back to the 1950s. I wonder if she gave Reagan the idea :smile:

But the UK didn't bother issuing bus tickets, AFAIK.
 
As someone who suffers with mental health issues, what has been done to these people really pisses me off.

Someone better become accountable to this. I will do further research and make the necessary calls/emails to voice my opinion on the matter.

COMPLETELY unacceptable.
 
As much as it goes against the image of Canucks, a lot of our mentally challenged people end up homeless or incarcerated simply because they were misdiagnosed or otherwise fell through the cracks in the health care system. We don't bus them anywhere, but our assistance methods could use a bit of a boost. Unfortunately, it is by far the worst for aboriginals.
 
russ_watters said:
Sounds like criminal neglect to me.

But if he were cared for, citizens of Nevada would have suffered a tax burden possibly equaling five cents apiece.
 
What is your philosophy on tax revenue? Should it only be spent on those who contribute to it, or what?
 
  • #10
I wonder how long until these unfortunate souls end up in jail...