News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Several Upper Cumberland officials have asked the UCHRA to do more when it comes to addressing mental health.
Jackson County Executive Randy Heady said his county lacks a mental health facility.
“There’s no mental health care given to anybody in rural counties. We need that in the rural communities. The same way that we need workforce development,” Heady said. “I know Clay County, Jackson, and others really struggle with that. When it comes to substance abuse, we’ve got some non-profits that are really doing some good work, but we also need that mental health position. That person who can help them and is going to be there locally.”
Heady said doing more to address mental health would help the region solve other problems.
“If we’re really going to get this distressed thing off of our back, or even the Upper Cumberland’s poverty rate, we have to really get down to the bare roots and get in the weeds with it,” Heady said. “We have to dig a little bit deeper. You asked me where I thought we could go. I’m not saying it’s falling on deaf ears because I don’t believe it is. I believe the governor’s task force is going to attack this [mental health].”
Heady said transportation also poses a problem as people often travel to Cookeville to receive mental health services.
“If somebody’s going to the grocery store, they will drop them off for an hour and pick them back up and take them back home,” Farley said. “But when it comes to coming all the way up here [to Cookeville] and it turns into a four or five hour adventure, that’s when you have a problem. They end up being brought and it becomes too big a hassle. I’d be willing to give that four hours up to get my help, but that’s not true for everybody. We’re not all the same.”
Warren County Executive Jimmy Haley said mental health poses huge challenge by tying up the court system in his county. He said county officials worked to address the issue this year by funding a full-time counselor at the jail.
“I’ve sat in booking before at night and nearly everybody coming in has got some kind of mental issue, but were not treating them,” Haley said. “I would love to see the HRA reach out and provide some of those services or network. A mental illness is something that needs to be treated as much as someone with a heart attack or a stroke, but nobody looks at it that way.”
UCHRA Executive Director Mark Farley said the agency has the avenue to begin addressing mental health needs.
“We probably have a closer working relationship with our mental health providers right now. A lot of that is coming from the substance abuse side, but we are working and have some great partnerships with them right now,” Farley said. “HRA’s actually have a designation as a mental health provider of some type through state statue.”
Heady brought up the mental health topic last week while the UCHRA Policy Council discussed the agency’s 2019 strategic plan.
