It’s a Shame

Thank you for the excellent article regarding the woefully inadequate mental-health system in Santa Barbara County.

I worked at the Psychiatric Health Facility for two years in 2000 and left for a safer, well-funded, and humane system of care. I had worked in other county systems before, and Santa Barbara’s was by far the worst.

It seemed criminal that in such a wealthy population there are so few resources for care, with staff overworked and minimally paid for a highly stressful, dangerous job that protects the community on multiple levels. It is no surprise, tragically, that psychotic people roam the parks and streets frightening people. Shame.

Add a surtax for mental health care on the multimillionaires who buy property here — they can easily afford it.