ADVOCATE’S PERSPECTIVE: OK…WHAT NOW?

John Tote
Executive Director
Mental Health Association in N.C., Inc.

Welcome to another in the continuing series of an “Advocate’s Perspective,” presented by the Mental Health Association in N.C., Inc. (MHA/NC). This glance at issues affecting North Carolina’s public mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse system is designed to invoke thought, discussion, and ultimately, solutions. This edition is being written in the early hours of Wednesday morning, November 5, 2008.

Moments ago, North Carolina , the United States , and indeed, the world witnessed incredible history being made. The son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas , Barak Obama, is set to become the 44th President of the United States of America . Additionally, North Carolina has elected its first female Governor, Beverly Perdue. Historic? Without a doubt! A change in tone? Absolutely! Time to get to work? You bet! So, ok…what now?

In a few hours, many individuals called candidates just hours ago, will wake up with a hyphen and the word “elect” somewhere after their name, i.e. President-elect, Governor-elect, Senator-elect, etc. We have seen nasty, bruising campaigns. We have seen distortions and outright lies. We have seen “ungodly” personal attacks. We have heard promises, from vague to hopeful.

However, now these individuals with “elect” behind their names become like the dog that caught the car: You got it, now what are you going to do with it? Reaction from around the world regarding President-elect Obama has been swift and overwhelmingly positive. In North Carolina, a new page has been turned on the “good ole boys” network. But going from rhetoric to governing is never easy. Constraints are numerous for newly elected officials. Our forefathers did us a great service by injecting checks and balances throughout our political system. However, they also did us a disservice by injecting checks and balances within the system. It still takes Congress, and in North Carolina the General Assembly, to get laws passed and rule changes accomplished, which is how it should be. But often times the process can be bogged down or completely stopped because of this dynamic.

On this morning, and in the days ahead, there should be no talk of ‘political capitol’ or mandates won. While change and hope might buy a newly elected candidate a few extra days, it doesn’t pay the bills; it doesn’t get anybody a job; it doesn’t get us out of war; or end the financial crisis our state and nation finds itself in. However, it does give us a new opportunity and a different perspective from which to confront, and hopefully overcome these and other issues that we face.

One of those issues here in North Carolina is the true mess called our mental health system. After eight years of what can be kindly called marginal – some my say pathetic – leadership over our health & human service system in general, and our mental health system in particular, it is time that real change occurs within our reformed/transformed system.

Let’s be perfectly honest, “the good ole days” prior to reform weren’t always all that good. Our state’s public mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse system absolutely needed to be changed. We needed new leadership, new direction, and new priorities. However, most importantly, we needed sound policies to guide our financial decisions to serve more people, to serve those in the most need, and to do it with a system that was imminently accessible and person-centered. As we continue to meander in the wilderness of reform, new leadership at the administrative and legislative level must provide a realistic endpoint as to when we are finished “reforming” our system. We must have the picture of Oz at the end of whatever r oad this is that we are on. It is only then that we can take the steps, however small at times, to give our system the direction and the eventual outcome that is required and that our citizens deserve.

Change is not easy. Egos get in the way; political favors get in the way; and, sometimes, honest differences get in the way. It is time, however, that we get everything out of the way. It is time that we have a spark of ingenuity that turns into a raging wildfire – a system change of true reform and of forward thinking and vision not bogged down by bureaucracy and ineptitude.

Our new administration and General Assembly will, undoubtedly, feel their way for sometime before they are fully comfortable in their role. That is understandable. However, those in the MH/DD/SA system can no longer wait. After seven plus years of trust fund raiding, financial “realignment,” institutional failures, and community stumbling, the time has come for true progress and not simply the rhetoric of better days ahead. Those that have good programs and systems in place must be encouraged to continue down the path that they are taking, but those that do not can no longer be coddled, protected, or overlooked. Hope is real; change is needed; and the possibilities are endless. But unlike the past eight years, let’s turn the days, weeks, and m onths to come into something that we can all look back on with pride, dignity, and a sense of accomplishment for what we have done and gained within our state’s mental health, developmental disability, and substance abuse system.

So again I ask, ‘so…what now?’ We have all had our votes be counted. We have all had our say. So now all of us, regardless of who we voted for, must also do something else as well. We must continue to let our voices be heard; we must continue to keep those that have been elected responsive – hold them accountable and responsible – stand with them and lift them up to move us as a system, as a society, and as a state, where we want and need to be. That’s one advocate’s perspective.