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Huron County Board of Mental Health and Addiction Services declare racism a public health crisis

Norwalk Reflector - 6/19/2020

Jun. 19--NORWALK -- The members of the Huron CountyBoard of Mental Health and Addiction Services (MHAS), in partnership with the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities, declared racism a public health crisis.

"One of the main points of discussion was around the impact racism and racial discrimination have on social determinants of health," executive director of MHAS Kristen Cardone said. "Housing, education, employment, access to and quality of health care, both mental and physical, and the impact all of those things have on an individual's mental health and well-being. Obviously our commitment is to make sure we are serving all members of our county to make sure everyone feels comfortable."

Cardone said they still have a lot of work to do regarding stigmas, with race and mental health. She said the board wants to ensure barriers keeping people of color from accessing behavioral health services are broken down.

"Some of the things we are working on with our local agencies include obviously additional cultural competency trainings, for therapists and behavioral health staff, and trying to find trainings that are obviously informational and will help but are also something that people want to learn so you know, and will hold their interest and will make an impact," she said.

"At a board level, it's looking at our current outreach efforts, and making sure we are doing everything we can to target specific populations, including persons of color, so making sure the resources are getting where we need them to go. If not, what can we do differently to make sure everyone is aware of the services that are available?"

Cardone said something that makes this difficult is a shortage of behavioral health professionals throughout the county.

"The majority of therapists are white and that may be a barrier for some people seeking services," she said. "(We want to) make sure we have a diverse group, which includes bilingual therapists, to meet all the needs of our populations."

The board's commitment to fighting racism in the community includes; Acknowledging racism as a public health crisis and building alliances and partnerships that confront and work collaboratively to end racism; Developing local solutions to address disparities and actively engage individuals and communities in racial and social justice work; Develop and implement policies and practices to end inequality in the health of people of color; ensure health equity and culture competence with all mental health and substance use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery programs; and engage all communities to work to develop and promote prevention and awareness to reduce stigma and eliminate barriers to care.

Norwalk Mayor Dave Light said changes have to come from the top down and have the hard conversations.

"I agree with (the declaration). You have to have somebody at the national level and you have to have politicians who stop and say, 'It's been a part of our culture in this country for years' and it's time for somebody to call it as they see it," Light said. "You saw all the fight just trying to get ventilators from state to state, it went on and on and in the meantime, people are dying."

He said in relation to racism in police departments that every city is different, from Monroeville to Cleveland.

"Different police departments have their own culture and they do things a lot differently," he said. "It's abundantly clear that there are huge differences in the way they do business in their downs and the way they handle things here in Norwalk."

Light said the killing of Rayshard Brooks, a black man who was shot by Atlanta police in a Wendy's parking lot, is defenseless.

"I don't know how you can defend (it). I've watched the clip over and over but you've got a guy who wrestles and fights with police, so I'm sure emotions were high. (Brooks) gets the taser, so then he's running with the taser," Light said. "Police have tasers because it's a less lethal tool, so then how can you use deadly force against it if the whole reason police have it is that it's less lethal?

"Either way, It's not a gun. You don't have a defense when it's two bullets in the back," Light said.

He said on the Norwalk Police Department, it tries to have a diverse group of police officers, but being in a rural area, that can be difficult.

"We got our first female in the police department in 1983, that was a big deal back then. Now we have three (female police officers)," Light said. "You're kind of limited because of the amount of females that go into the police academy. You want females in your department, minorities all around, but it's just os hard to find here in a rural setting like this."

Cardone said the board relies on the agencies they work with for feedback and ideas while the all work collaboratively together.

"What I have found to be one of the great things of the board is it's constantly assessing the needs of the community which shift on a regular basis," she said. "Making sure our priorities and goals directly aligned with what the needs of the community are, whatever those may be, reassessing on a regular basis to make sure we're doing everything we possibly can."

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