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State and Federal Reports Issued on the Virginia Tech Incident and Community Mental Health Services Generally The Virginia Office of Inspector General (O1G) issued its preliminary report into the Virginia mental health system's involvement with the student responsible for the Virginia Tech tragedy of April 16, 2007. The report reviews the facts leading up to the Virginia Tech incident and includes numerous recommendations for improving the response of the community and the mental health system to individuals who are experiencing a psychiatric emergency. The U.S. Attorney General and the secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Education also recently submitted a report to the president on the issues raised by the Virginia Tech tragedy. The federal report covers what the federal officials learned after canvassing communities across the nation. Although the Virginia OIG report has some gaps and unsupported conclusions, especially with respect to the Virginia Tech incident, the report points out that there is a severe lack of appropriate mental health services in Virginia. In early June of 2007, the OIG surveyed 40 Virginia community service boards. His survey revealed that, over the past 10 years, the outpatient capacity of community service boards has decreased 57.5 percent for adult services and 50 percent for child/adolescent services. In the last six months alone, Virginians who seek outpatient services at local community service boards have long waits, averaging, in post-emergency situations, 23 days for adults and 30 days for children. The wait is even longer for non-emergency situations. The federal officials also reported that there were concerns raised in their meetings across the country about the capacity of the state and local mental health delivery systems to meet the full range of mental health needs. They recommended, among other things, that states and local governments evaluate their mental health systems to ensure that there is an adequate continuum of mental health services, including mental health services for students, which provide meaningful choices among treatment options. NDRN - through the work of the P&A System – has long recognized the need for adequate and appropriate services for individuals with mental illness. P&As are continuously working to strengthen community mental health services. For example, The Alabama P&A is actively involved in four regional planning groups, which have brought millions of dollars into Alabama's community mental health system. The Arizona P&A successfully advocated for significant improvements in the crisis system in Pima County, including a $1 million dollar increase in funding for crisis services. The Delaware P&A is working to improve case management services for individuals with mental illness living in the community. The Kentucky P&A filed a community services case which resulted in the state establishing and operating a statewide mobile crisis response service for individuals with intellectual disabilities living in community residences ($15 million in funding for the first 2 years). The Indiana P&A worked on a committee to establish a statewide crisis line for persons with developmental disabilities, which will be launched next month. The Montana P&A is working with individuals with mental illness, treatment professionals and law enforcement to develop appropriate crisis plans. The South Carolina P&A is a member of South Carolina Partners in Crisis (SCPIC) a statewide coalition of stakeholders, including law enforcement officers, elected officials and mental health advocates, who have come together to advocate for improvements in the state's mental health and substance abuse delivery system.   The Texas P&A participated in a committee established by the Commissioner of the Texas Department of Health Services to redesign mental health and substance abuse crisis services delivered through local mental health authorities. The Virginia P&A is also participating in an effort sponsored by the Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court to reform the mental health system in Virginia and has provided significant input to an advisory counsel on commitment issues.

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