Viewpoint: Pass mental health care bill in Indiana — and fund it
I was standing in our church parking in downtown South Bend, where I was pastor at the time. It had been a long day, yet there I was with several police officers and EMTs. We were with a man who had been in our soup kitchen just hours before and was suffering from a mental health crisis in our parking lot. There was no place for him to go, so the police officer asked me, "Do you want us to take him to jail or the hospital?" I just wanted him to get the help he needed and deserved. Yet, there was no crisis response center for him to be taken to for care.
Too often in our cities across Indiana and the nation, we ask police officers to be mental health providers and social workers. Jails and hospitals become the de-facto detox center. There was no one to come to help this man and nowhere for him to go.
This is not an issue that I had planned on getting involved with. Why should a church or a pastor be advocating for mental health care funding from our state legislators? I believe that to love my neighbor, who in this case was the man having a mental health crisis in my church parking lot, is to make sure that he and all others who need access to mental health have that opportunity.
This year, the Indiana Senate took on Senate Bill 1 (SB1). This was the first time a bill related to mental health was the first bill considered by the Indiana Senate. I got involved with Faith in Indiana, an interfaith organization bringing together people of faith and goodwill to seek the common good in our state, to advocate for the passage of SB1.
On Feb. 13, SB1 passed unanimously out of the Indiana Senate. It now moves onto the House, and most believe it will pass easily there too. The question remains whether it will be funded or not. Without funding, this bill will be like a brand-new car with no engine. It won't make an impact.
I thank all of our lawmakers for supporting the passage of SB1, but I also call on them to fully fund the path forward. When our neighbors and loved ones are in need, they need a number to call (a mental health hotline with trained, professional staff), someone to come (clinician-led mobile crisis teams), and a place to go (crisis response centers that connect our loved ones to the help they need).
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Indiana ranks 42nd in mental health. We can and must do better. That’s why the work continues. If you feel strongly about this issue like I do, please make your voice known to your legislator. Send them an email or a letter. Call their office. Meet with them. Tell them that you care for and love your neighbor and that everyone deserves mental health care in our state.
Whenever I’m talking or writing about this advocacy work, I keep in mind the many people who have been in need of crisis response and had no where to turn. The man in my church parking lot comes to mind, along with several members of the congregations I serve, and loved ones. The time is now to support all of them and all the citizens of Indiana by fully funding mental health crisis response.
The Rev. Matt Landry is senior pastor at Castleton United Methodist Church in Indianapolis. He has been a clergyperson in The United Methodist Church for 14 years, serving many congregations in Ohio and Indiana, including First United Methodist Church in South Bend.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Faith in Indiana asks Indiana legislators to fund mental health care
