Organizations applaud government for taking next step to improve lives of people with mental illness and addiction

TORONTO, May 11, 2005 - Three of the province's leading mental health and addiction organizations are encouraged by today's provincial budget, which commits to continuing to improve the lives of people with mental illness and addiction in Ontario. The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Ontario, the Ontario Federation of Community Mental Health and Addiction Programs (OFCMHAP) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) applaud the McGuinty government's on-going focus on developing a comprehensive mental health and addiction system.

Most significantly, the budget continues to meet the government's commitment to improve long-neglected community mental health and addictions programs to ensure a spectrum of services is available across the province. The Liberal government has continued its steady progress towards rectifying years of underfunding with the second consecutive annual investment in this sector. This funding will provide key services, such as case management, which have demonstrated tremendous success in improving health and significantly reducing hospitalization and crisis events.

"Ensuring that community-based services are available when they are needed is essential not just for people with mental illness and addiction," said Karen McGrath, CMHA, Ontario's CEO. "They also reduce the pressure on hospitals and emergency rooms, services that impact every Ontarian."

The budget has also formalized an announcement made in late April to create supportive housing services for people with mental illness, an essential component to successful treatment and recovery. "Without stable housing, recovery from mental illness or addiction is virtually impossible," says David Kelly, executive director of OFCMHAP. "And supportive housing programs have demonstrated their effectiveness in enabling people with serious mental illness or addictions to transition successfully from a hospital environment to live in the community."

"People with mental illness and addiction are still desperately underserved in Ontario," added Dr. Paul Garfinkel, CAMH President and CEO. "But the current government has demonstrated both understanding of the situation and a willingness to improve it. We look forward to continuing to work with the Government to ensure that the needs of Ontario's mental health and addiction community are recognized and integrated into the transforming provincial health care system."

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Liz Scanlon                        Sylvia Hagopian             David Kelly
CMHA, Ontario                    CAMH                          OFCMHAP
(416) 977-5580 ext. 4131    (416) 595-6015             (416) 490-8900 ext. 22