I recently received a newsletter from my legislative representatives in District 17 that highlights their view of the most important problems facing our community. It strikes me that politicians are increasingly blaming systemic problems in our society on mental illness. Homelessness? Substance abuse? Gun violence? All are supposedly due to mental illness. The politicians who blame our social ills on mental illness need to present plans to prevent and deal with this overwhelming problem, and provide funding to do so.
My legislators point out that the effects of the COVID pandemic have been observed in the declining educational achievement of students. By blaming the “governor’s shutdown” of schools, they are ignoring that schools were closed in response to an unprecedented public health crisis. Over 1 million Americans died from COVID, and school shutdowns prevented thousands more deaths. Now that public schools are open, it is most important for legislators to focus on programs and funding to remediate and foster students’ educational attainment.
In suggesting that mental illness and substance abuse are the “core of the homelessness problem,” my legislators are confusing symptoms with cause. Substance abuse is a symptom of the problem that citizens cannot find jobs that provide a decent living wage and health care.
