The task force blues

It is always a question ... actually act to change the system or spend time meeting about acting? Many in Oregon are pushing for the former ...

Doris Cameron-Minard, a past president of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Oregon, whose son suffers from mental illness, said she has served on two governors' mental health task forces. She said she's been frustrated that many of the ideas that came out of those reports are still gathering dust. Steps that need to be taken, she said, include expanding access for the mentally ill to community treatment, and providing diversion treatment programs so people suffering from mental illness don't end up in jail. - The Oregonian, Nov. 1, 2006

We commend Oregon advocates like Cameron-Minard and state Sen. Avel Gordly for realizing that meeting alone won't solve anything.