The Well Being of Our Nation: An Inter-Generational Vision of Effective Mental Health Services and Supports

September 2002

The National Council on Disability has just released a detailed analysis of national mental health services and supports. In their language: "This report does not aim to be a comprehensive review of all that is known about public mental health and its shortcomings....Rather this report examines some of the root causes of the crisis in mental health, and seeks to 'connect the dots' concerning the dysfunction of a number of public systems that are charged with providing mental health services and supports for children, youth, adults and seniors who have been diagnosed with mental illnesses."

The study later reports that there are "... proven models of success throughout the country, but entrenched forces and stale thinking have prevented them from 'going to scale' to serve more people with psychiatric disabilities. Some such models are referenced throughout the report, and Chapter 6 provides a menu of concrete actions to bring about a new vision of public mental health services and supports."

Download the report (PDF format, 9/16/02, 450Kb)