Mental Health Group Had No Choice
* As an advocate for the homeless and in particular those who experience severe and persistent mental illness, the Mental Health Assn. of Orange County (MHA) has not chosen, unpalatably or otherwise, to discontinue programs that serve the homeless as recently stated in the editorial “A Break for Santa Ana Homeless” (July 5).
MHA, in partnership with the County of Orange Mental Health Services, has shared an allegiance to the homeless mentally ill for the past eight years.
Contract money was designated to serve this vulnerable population until priorities changed with the Dec. 6 county bankruptcy.
The choice to discontinue services to the homeless mentally ill was not made by MHA but by the dictates of county funding. Mandated changes in our county contract have eliminated the luxury of choice not only for our agency but for many citizens in the county whose voices will no longer be heard.
CAROL J. BURBY
Executive Director
Mental Health Assn. of Orange County
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