NAMI Statement on Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC) Hospital Report

March 20, 2008

Significant reductions in inpatient psychiatric beds, coupled with shortages of appropriate community services and supports for people with the most severe mental illnesses, has led to a crisis in America. Today, in many parts of the country, people with severe mental illness do not have access to necessary treatment either in hospitals or in the community. This has contributed significantly to increases in homelessness, criminalization, suicides, and other adverse consequences of neglect. On March 19, 2008, The Treatment Advocacy Center released a report focusing on one important dimension of this crisis – sharp decreases in public hospital beds for persons with mental illness.

NAMI’s Grading the States 2006 report also describes the crisis in America’s public mental health system and the reasons for this crisis, including the non-existence of evidence based mental health services in many communities and major shortages in qualified mental health professionals throughout the country.