The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-12-04

dation which the Connecticut So- ciety for Mental Hygiene has brought--unSuccessfully -- to the attention of the past two legiSla- tive assemblies. One of he orig lnal purposes of this Society founded by Clifford W. Beers in 1908 was ito help raise standards of care for those suffering from or in danger of developing mental disorder" Through It's many stud- ies made in succeeding years Of conditions affecting the states in- stitutions for mental disease and defect, the Society has long oe- come convinced of the growing need for an effective coordina- ton and correlation of the work of all the public institutions in Connecticut devoted to the care Of these problems. At the 1937 ses- sion of the legislature the Society vigorously supported a bill intro duced by a special commission ap pointed by the governor, ito con- sider the laws pertaining to facili- ties within the state for the pre- vention, treatment and cure of mental disease and defect" The principal recommendation of this Commission emerged in the form of a bill introduced into the legis- lature calling for the creation Of a central State Department Of Mental Health. In support of such standardization the Commission pointed out that"-the lack of any plan or statewide policy for the prevention, treatment and cure of mental illness and deficiency and the lack of an orderly program for institutional development evil denced the fact that the state is without full knowledge of the ser- ious nature of the economic and human problem confronting it. The Commission likewise called attention to the lack of "respon- sible central head to which the in- dividual mental institutions may look for the solution of their prob- lems."
 Failed of Passage
 Despite energetic action the com mission and the Connecticut So- ciety for Mental Hygiene alike were unsuccessful in securing pas sage of this bill. The substance of the bill was reintroduced by the Society with some notifications at the last session of the legisla- ture, but in the closing days 1t appeared that the forces arrayed against 1t were so powerful that rather than to have the bill meet failure it was withdrawn.
 A number of progressive states elsewhere--notably New York and Massachusetts have centralized departments to coordinate and correlate the work of their various institutions for mental disease and defect. Their experiences have brought wide conviction that economies in maintenance and administration. as well as i'm provements in professional per- sonnel and services to patients can be effected more satisfactorily through such central depart ment than under Connecticuts existing system of institutional is- olatjon and separateness. Recent reports on the Norwich State Hos pital serve merely to bring into sharper relief u long recognized need for a reasonable measure of centralization among all of Con- necticuts public mental institu- tions, and the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Society for Mental Hygiene already is devot- Ing further study to the need for a central department of this kind in the hope that legislative efforts at the next session may be more productive.
 Cordially yours,
 GEORGE K. PRATT, M. D,
 Medical Director, The Connec- ticmt Society for Mental Hygiene.