Let's start with the statements made by Kathleen Mullen that mislead the reader to believe that all mentally ill homeless people are still homeless because of a lack of consistent services available to them. I can inform you from direct and personal conversations I have had with approximately fifty MHCD consumers that a majority of the ones that have continued difficulty remaining in stable housing readily admit to their own propensity to "burn their bridges" when they have been given access to these services. This majority does typically struggle with substance abuse and societal problems from a marked lack of impulse control, both of which can be at least somewhat attributed to their mental illness. But if you are thinking right now that these are only a portion of the homeless mentally ill on Denver's streets, you are correct. It is only a portion of the population that continually gets evicted from apartments that MHCD has set up for them, that get kicked out of shelters due to behavioral problems, that refuse to participate in treatment.
There are many, many other consumers of MHCD who do not exhibit these incompatible behaviors, despite being diagnosed with similar, if not the very same, diagnoses as those mentioned above. These consumers are also in desperate need of MHCD's services and assistance in obtaining housing. In order to make room for the treatment-resistant population living on the streets, MHCD would have to move out those who are truly utilizing MHCD services.
It is important to remember that the state and MHCD do not have a limitless pool of money. They also have what can definitely be called an extremely low tolerance from apartment managers and other community resources when it comes to housing mental-health consumers. Our community is just as quick to give up on the mentally ill and throw them back out on the streets as it is to help them in the beginning. This is propagated by fear -- fear of what they do not know. It is much easier for Mullen to focus solely on the state and MHCD and make accusations of "inadequate" services than it is for her to admit to the judge the truth: that MHCD's hands are often tied by the overall lack of support from community and legal resources. There is no opponent for her there. She can't take the community of Denver to court, even though the true blame lies there.
I am going to close by telling you that I am no longer a case manager with MHCD. I burned out on the high stress level, the impossible demands and the conflicting powers that be who are the true governors of mental-health care in Denver. In fact, I agree that MHCD needs to do something differently in order to provide improved services. But focusing on MHCD's so-called negligence of its consumers is faulty, to say the least. Without public support, we are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to providing "adequate services" to the mentally ill population. In fact, I think "Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place" would be a nice title for a follow-up story you could do on the real situation.
Name withheld on request
