The Quiet Success of the National Plan for the Chronically Mentally Ill
Chris Koyanagi 1 and
Howard H. Goldman M.D.,Ph.D.2
1 National Mental Health Association, 1021 Prince Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314
2 Mental Health Policy Studies Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore
In 1978 the President's Commission on Mental Health called for a national plan for the care of persons with chronic mental illness. The plan was completed and released in 1980, but was never adopted as the policy of the incoming Reagan Administration. Despite changes in attitudes in the 1980s toward the federal government's role in human services and an atmosphere of fiscal restraint, many of the plan's specific recommendations for changes in Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare have been implemented. In this paper, the implementation of these recommendations is analyzed. The authors discuss some of the strategies used by mental health advocacy groups to make gains in the 1980s. Recommendations for the 1990s are discussed.
Note:
This paper is based on a report partially supported by the National Institute of Mental Health under purchase order 90MF45292101D. The opinions expressed are the authors' and do not represent official policy NIMH. The authors acknowledge the contributions and editorial suggestions of several individuals, in particular Irene Shifren- Levine, Fred Osher, Barry Blackwell, Susan Ridgely, Joe Manes, Stanley Platman, and Agnes Rupp.
