Eventually a residential treatment and support program was set up. The program for deaf people serves about 400 to 450 people a year in South Carolina as outpatients. That is for a total South Carolina population of 3.2 million people. They have a staff of 37 people and are now adding three new children's services positions as well as a director for the children's mental health program. He pointed out that it's ludicrous to even wonder why we have burnout in this field.
People ask how they can afford to set up a similar program.
But Dr. Critchfield points out that the cost per patient is revealing. It costs less per day for the 40 staff people serving deaf patients now than it did to serve only a few people in the hospital. Dr. Critchfield points out that most states have data to prove people who are deaf need mental health services but that it's hard to get useful figures in the beginning. He feels very fortunate to have a psychiatrist who signs in American Sign Language. Dr. Jill Afrin used to drive all over South Carolina visiting deaf patients.