The State made available to Dutchess County funding to build up community mental health in the wake of the Hudson River Psychiatric Center closure. The amount offered was $1.875-million, with $1.5-millon renewing annually, restricted to “diversionary” programs to reduce hospital admissions and arrests. This month the collective will of county government voted to “divert” and pervert the actual intention of such monies.

The County Legislature voted to accept the funding, but not with the mentally ill in mind. Just about half -- $900,000 will go not for the furtherance of mental health services, but will be “diverted” to replenish the county’s all-but depleted rainy-day fund balance (the 2012 budget was balanced using $26million of the $29million fund). The remainder will go towards preserving union jobs in the county workforce that were cut in the 2012 budget providing mobile crisis response services to aid law enforcement at rates higher than nonprofit professionals could provide. A small pittance will boost services at St. Francis Hospital and PEOPLe Inc. (my employer, meaning I was barred by legislative rules from voting and participating in floor debates). Seemingly forgotten are those once served by HRPC.

Historically Dutchess County has welcomed the mentally ill from across the state. It did so in connection with the state-administered Hudson River and Harlem Valley Psychiatric Centers and Taconic DDOS even before the 1934 reforms to the State Constitution enshrined social welfare including those suffering from mental disorder or defects. These changes, ratified during the Great Depression, required the State to assume a major role in social welfare, alongside counties. With this change came new funding with the growth of state financing of health-related initiatives. In 1938 the State paid just $5.8-million annually in health-related expenses compared to $77-million just thirty years later. At the same time counties grew statewide from $23.4-million to $64.9-million. Then came advances in psychotropic medications, the deinstitutionalization movement, and in the modern day, economic recessions. ...

                 An historic chapter came to an end in Dutchess County on January 26^th when a 145-year-old institution, Hudson River Psychiatric Center, closed its doors for the last time. The only state hospital closure among 28 in existence in the state, Governor Cuomo targeted HRPC in the 2011 Budget in an attempt to close a $10billion deficit. It now joins Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center in Wingdale that closed in 1994 under the previous Governor Cuomo. Both hospitals once housed 6,000 patients in their heyday at a time when Dutchess County led the state in in-patient psychiatric care. Today, this historic role is preserved in a museum documenting the county’s leadership role in psychiatric care still housed on the HRPC grounds but perhaps destined for relocation to Marist College.

                I studied psychopathology at Marist beneath HRPC’s former director and learned via slideshows and anecdotes a wealth of history regarding HRPC’s role in the lives of its patients. Some I had already seen firsthand through visits as an advocate for mental health services as a member of the county mental health subcommittee, and secondly as a provider at PEOPLe Inc., a mental health nonprofit at which I work. But my strongest impression of HRPC predates my professional focus.

                In 1986, I was introduced to Hudson River Psychiatric Center when my mother became a patient there. I was eight years old. My dad brought me there to visit her to help her get better, and largely because I missed my mom. Even then I realized that the hospital was there to help mom get well so she could return home. At the time HRPC was part of a much larger campus, so that more people were treated locally meaning that families like me could come and visit and help our loved ones heal quicker so that they could come home faster. In subsequent years, as HRPC downsized and Saint Francis Hospital likewise cut back on beds, when mom needed hospitalization she was forced to Westchester and Putnam counties. This made visitation ...

                By Western front, I mean Poughkeepsie, and while not all is well, things are looking up. This month, by a 24-1 margin the County Legislature moved initiatives of new County Executive Marc Molinaro forward in crucial areas of economic development and solid waste planning. Contrary to possible inferences, these were not rubber-stamping votes. The Legislature was critical – asking probing questions and performing soul-searching – and the Molinaro administration had to exert effort to work to curry favor, and they did. We proved that the democratic process worked while moving forward important initiatives. This is how I define wellness.

                Responding to economic and unemployment angst heard on the campaign trail, the new county executive began our legislative term with a plan to restructure the planning department by adding a deputy in charge of strategic planning and economic development. The goal of this high level (but revenue-neutral) position will be to help regionalize local projects, support small business and grow the economy through planning, coordination and pro-activeness. It would be independent of, but work alongside, current economic entities including the Industrial Development Agency and the Economic Development Council. During our committee deliberations I was among the idea’s detractors.

                I questioned philosophically whether government should become involved in job-creation and growing the economy. While acknowledging a perceived voter expectation of government leadership in these realms I questioned whether our role might be better served by staying outside and letting private enterprise correct itself. Practically I also inquired about whether concentrating influence in the county might strip autonomy from local governments. I was afraid that in the interest of “regionalization” that the county might place undue pressures on rural communities to accept development projects that may benefit the region but have the potential to scar and change the community identity that many of us work so hard to preserve. I could visualize the potential clashes between noble but competing values, and I spoke up for what I believe are the core values of the people I represent.

                Other legislators were likewise concerned in many areas including whether this might just be a duplication of services like those performed at EDC and IDA. The County Executive and ...

                The topic got me thinking. In the Eighteenth Century support for children was considered a moral, but not a legal duty. Not so today. In 1975, the U.S. Congress enacted federal-state child support enforcement. Their goals were to reduce childhood poverty and reduce the welfare rolls. Congress assured States that they would be compensated with federal funds under TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) if they aggressively established paternity (goal of 90 percent) and set up systems for child support collection. Congress underscored child support programs as priorities in 1988 and again in 1993. How successful this system meets its goal is up to debate. In 1975, 17 percent of children under 18 lived below the poverty line. In 2009, that number was 20 percent.

                           January 14, 2012: Pleasant Valley Town Hall

Editor's Note: Although Mike did not receive the nomination for Assemblyman, we reprint his speech here so that the issues and values contained therein may live on.

          Welcome! I say welcome because not only do I represent Pleasant Valley in the County Legislature, but Pleasant Valley is also my home.

          Two-Hundred and Thirty-Six years ago a Presbyterian Minister from Pleasant Valley by the name of Melancton Smith stepped forward in his service to his town and fellow citizens. He became a delegate to the New York Provincial Congress then considering whether to break away from Great Britain. He helped organized militia, which he named the Dutchess County Rangers, and he served as county sheriff during the war for independence. Afterwards he fought against slavery, became a delegate to the Constitutional Convention as a fierce defender of state and local rights. When it came time for New York to ratify the federal constitution Melancton Smith was a key vote in approving the U.S. Constitution albeit with assurance that the rights of the individuals would be protected. Afterwards, in 1791 Melancton Smith of Pleasant Valley was elected to the New York State Assembly.

          I tell you this at the start of my speech where I will ask for your vote to nominate me to represent you in the New York State Assembly, because our shared history, our heritage is part and parcel of who we are. From Red Hook, who will celebrate its 200^th anniversary this year to Wassaic, whose Borden Milk factory was founded 150-years ago last year whose condensed milk proved pivotal to outfitting our troops in the U.S. Civil War we hail from a proud region. We live in historic towns. You and I cherish our towns and the sense ...