Center aids mentally ill in county

First in a series

Editor’s note: This is the first in a six-part series on local resources dealing with mental and retardation.

Carman Williams

cwilliams@weatherforddemocrat.com

Mental illness was once accompanied by mysticism and superstition. More recently, it is often met with stigmas and stereotypes.

Pecan Valley Mental Health Mental Retardation is committed to changing that. One of 39 community MHMR centers in Texas, Pecan Valley brings mental health services to Erath, Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker and Somervell counties.

Community MHMRs began in 1963, when President John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Centers Act to treat mentally ill individuals. Congress took the initiative a step further by deinstitutionalizing psychiatric asylums.

Pecan Valley executive director Coke Beatty said the Congressional action backlashed when many mental patients were released from asylums only to end up in jail or on the streets.

Modern MHMRs aim to stop that trend by creating a variety of mental health services and jail diversions. Pecan Valley offers services such as a crisis hotline and intervention, psychiatric evaluation, treatment and rehab, and support housing. Each service is designed with the needs of the individual in mind.

Pecan Valley was founded in 1976 to “provide, within the community, help and hope to all who strive to overcome the problems and disabilities of mental illness, mental retardation, developmental disabilities and substance abuse,” according to the organizations’s mission statement.

The centers are open to adults with diagnosable mental illness or retardation, as well as youth in high-risk situations. To receive funding, MHMRs must serve a minimum of 1,340 adults and 109 children per month; Pecan Valley serves more than 1,500 adults and 230 children in that time.

Pecan Valley’s clients span all levels of illness and ability and are cared for by more than 200 trained employees.

Beatty said the connection between clients and staff is one of MHMR’s greatest strengths.

“It’s not what you buy for somebody, it’s what you do for somebody,” he said.

He went on to explain Pecan Valley and other MHMRs go beyond simply providing medicine and other essentials, they also provide a personal case worker to bond with each patient.

“Our overall goal is to serve people in their community so they can remain in their community,” Beatty said.

In the past, he said, people who dealt with mental illness were sent away or seen as a source of shame; a mindset he hopes the public will abandon.

For six years, every county in Texas has had a designated MHMR, and patients must attend the MHMR in their region. Other criteria are also in place: Adults must be diagnosed with depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder (a combination of schizophrenia and another mood disorder).

Youth don’t have to have a diagnosable disorder, but must be in a high-risk situation such as threat of expulsion or leaving home, and must be signed into the MHMR by a guardian. Youth will also be admitted if they have severe emotional or mental disorders.

Every patient must also take a financial assessment. Potential patients can be screened for eligibility by phone at any time.

Substance abuse is also addressed by MHMR because according to Beatty, there is a higher rate of alcohol abuse among the mentally ill. Substance abusers must also have a diagnosis of mental illness.

To learn more about Pecan Valley MHMR, look for continuing coverage in tomorrow’s Weatherford Democrat.