Consortium announced to help mental illness and substance abuse
An average of just over two dozen Delawareans die each month from overdoses. A statistic not lost on Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long, who announced Thursday the creation of an Addiction Action Committee and the Behavioral Health Consortium.
"We've modeled it after the Cancer Consortium, where we actually have made a difference both with goals, short-term measures and improving lives. We want to change that statistic so that no longer do we hear about 300 deaths from overdose or 20 Delawareans a month," said Hall-Long.
The group will consist of community advocates, law enforcement, state leaders, and healthcare professionals from across the state.
The two pieces of legislation, House Bill 220 and Senate Bill 111, are also aiming to help those with mental illness. The Addiction Action Committee will be tasked with forming a blueprint for the prevention, treatment and recovery for mental health, substance use and co-occurring disorders.
Hall-Long says you hear on the news that people have become addicted, but what she's interested in is the why, and how to solve it.
"What's causing that, whether it's beyond pain or injury, is it anxiety is it depression and so we want to address that. Delaware has the potential, we have some really great non-profits, state agencies, youth and family services public health," said Hall-Long.
Governor Carney tapped Hall-Long in a recent joint session to work with groups in the community and state agencies to tackle behavioral health issues and prescription drug abuse.
The legislation is also aimed at helping children who have parents or guardians that have been affected. Hall-Long says working in the medical field, she saw first-hand going door to door how this affects children.
She says these bills can help "break the silos" that exist between youth and family services, health and social services, and our prison system so that children do get recognized that need help early on.
"It is about having an unfragmented system, and right now we don't always communicate. We've got some great programs, people don't know how to access them."
If you have questions regarding these bills, you are asked to contact the Lieutenant Governor's office at 302.744.4333, or log on to helpisherede.com.
