Haley Proposes Increase in Mental Health Funding

Gov. Nikki Haley wants to invest more in the state's mental health system — a move she said will save money in the future by treating patients before their problems become so expensive. 

The governor's proposed 2012-2013 budget includes $17 million for the Department of Mental Health.  

"Mental health issues aren't issues of just extreme patients in hospitals," Haley said at a press conference Wednesday. "Mental health issues are things that affect parents and sisters and brothers and co-workers — all of the people in our lives."

South Carolina's Department of Mental Health has faced more cuts than any other state-run mental health department in the country in recent years, according to a study from the National Alliance on Mental Health. About 39 percent of the department's budget was cut between the 2009 and 2012 fiscal years. 

Haley wants to restore some of those dollars. Her $17 million plan for the Department of Mental Health includes: 

• $7 million to maintain services for people already using the department's services
• More than $7 million for the Sexually Violent Predator Program, a treatment program for inmates determined to be sexually violent predators
• Funding for other mental health initiatives, including emergency room telepsychiatry services
• $430,000 from the Capital Reserve Fund for renovations to the Sexually Violent Predator treatment unit at the Broad River Road Correctional facility 

"There is nothing wrong with someone who has a mental health issue," Haley said. "There is something very wrong when that person doesn't get treatment. 

"These are good productive citizens that deserve to live good, healthy life. And if given treatment they can be incredibly successful. If not given treatment, we as a state have failed."

Haley's proposed budget is the beginning of the budget process. State lawmakers will work over the coming months to create a budget that Haley will be asked to sign.