Severe mental illnesses profoundly disrupt a person's ability to function in and relate to the environment. Although medical innovations have made it possible for most people with mental illnesses to live in the community, they cannot do so without an integrated support network to help them address their mental and physical health as well as economic, social, and vocational needs.

Impact
People with mental illnesses are confronted with a high degree of stigmatization in the community. Without adequate care, people with severe mental illnesses face a variety of problems with housing, employment, and poverty, which leads to further stigmatization.

About 30% of single homeless adults without children have a mental illness; many homeless adults with mental illnesses are eligible for, but few receive, any form of income maintenance, including Social Security or public assistance.

83% of working-age adults with severe mental illness are unemployed. Those who work, however, do so at the risk of losing government health benefits. At the same time, 70% feel that employment is an important goal in their recovery.

People with mental illnesses are 5-15% more likely to develop a substance abuse disorder. And although people with mental illnesses have been shown to be no more violent than people without mental illnesses, substance abuse disorders raise the rate of violence among people with (and without) mental illnesses.

An estimated 10-15% of adults in prison have a mental illness; many receive inadequate mental health care while incarcerated and have limited access to support services when they are released.

When provided with access to appropriate housing, employment services, mental health treatment, primary health care, and community support programs, many people with severe mental illnesses can live and work successfully in the community.

Our Service Region
Approximately 6% of the population in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky suffer from severe mental illness. Although each of these states funds mental health services differently, funding for only a portion of needed services is available, forcing some counties to rely on local tax levies to generate additional funds. In addition, rural counties have less infrastructure to provide a network of mental health services.

Severe Mental Illness Advisory Group
The Health Foundation convened an Advisory Group of mental health service providers, consumers, and their families in 1998 to assist in understanding the status of mental health services in our region. This Advisory Group also helped the Foundation develop two strategies to target funding toward the mental health services that the community needs most.