When hospital officials made their budget requests last fall, they asked for a modest 6.1 percent increase to initiate new programs at the hospital and 16 group home spaces. The governor's budget called for a 4.8 percent increase. Mental health advocates like the governor's own advisory council and the Alliance for the Mentally Ill said the amount should be more like 10 percent. The advocates are certainly closer to the mark than either the bureaucrats or the governor. But we suspect it will take much more to provide the best care to which Delaware's mentally ill are entitled.
Mental illness knows no social, economic or racial barriers.
It comes in many forms, some easily treatable, others requiring long, difficult therapy. We suspect everyone reading this is familiar with a person suffering from mental illness. That should translate into active support for the appropriate treatment for all of Delaware's mentally ill. The Human Genome Project is about decoding the essence of life. It will be a map of the 80,000 to 100,000 genetic chemical linkages that make a body function, an individual unique, and a family trait hereditary.