Police education topic at mental health forum Educating, counseling families emphasized

BANGOR – Mental health patients and their families offered suggestions Thursday on how to improve services in northern and eastern Maine at a forum with a group charged with the task.

At the meeting, the Region III Adult Mental Health Task Force Implementation Group heard from several people with mental illnesses, among them Bangor resident Betty Scott, who asked the committee to include more peer counseling in any revamped system.

“Sometimes we don’t need to go to Acadia or [Eastern Maine Medical Center],” said Scott, who worked for 13 years at the Together Place, a Bangor social club for the mentally ill and mentally retarded. “Sometimes we just need to get away from the situation and talk to somebody about it.”

Scott’s voice was but one heard at the afternoon round table at Bangor City Hall, where about 30 people gathered to address the committee, created last year by Lynn Duby, commissioner of the Maine Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services.

The implementation group is expected to issue its final report to Duby in September.

The commissioner herself was on hand to hear public comment on issues including outpatient psychiatric commitment, housing resources for people with mental illness, as well as the delivery of mental health crisis services and mental health services to incarcerated populations.

Education for family members of the mentally ill and local police was a common theme at the afternoon hearing. Participants also suggested that mental health patients be involved in the training of staff and law enforcement.

Duby said she found the public feedback valuable as the department looks to reorganize within tight budget constraints.

The Thursday hearing was the latest in a series, which will continue with a forum for mental health service providers from 2 to 4 p.m. July 30 at City Hall.

The implementation group’s chairman, Lee Umphrey, told those in attendance that their comments would not be forgotten.

“What’s been clear is that people’s voices are going to be heard,” Umphrey said. “We will make sure that we see changes that will improve services.”

Among the committee’s recommendations were to be “accommodating rather than punitive” in the area of involuntary commitments.

The committee also called for increased training for jail employees to better deal with mental health patients. The draft report cites the success of a program that allows a mental health worker to ride along with police in Maine’s larger cities.

On the topic of increasing housing opportunities for the mentally ill, the committee cited the need for more one-bedroom or efficiency apartments in the region and financial assistance for landlords renting to mentally ill tenants.

Region III comprises Aroostook, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock and Washington counties.