Georgia Mental Health Forum Focuses on Making New Freedom Commission Goals Reality

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jon Moor
404-420-5107
Note: This event is by invitation only.

ATLANTA....On Wednesday, May 12, the 2004 Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum will bring together experts and policy-makers in an effort to implement recommendations from the final report of President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Tens of thousands of Georgians have suffered a breakdown in availability and delivery of public mental health services as a result of massive budget cutbacks and repeated management reorganizations over the last several years. The presidential report finds that mental health systems are in a shambles and makes strong recommendations for rebuilding, but state and local agencies are left to implement them.

"While there have been major advancements in our understanding of the brain and new treatments developed, our ability to provide quality care is still inadequate. I am especially concerned that in this time of declining financial resources many of the gains we have made will be lost. I look forward to the time when recovery is the expected outcome of being diagnosed with a mental illness and all Georgians will have access to early detection of these illnesses and the effective treatments and supports they need to live, work, learn, and participate fully in their communities," says Rosalynn Carter, the Center's Mental Health Task Force founder and chair.

NOTE TO MEDIA: The 2004 Rosalynn Carter Georgia Mental Health Forum, Georgia's Imperative: Implementing the Final Report of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, takes place Wednesday, May 12, 2004, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., The Carter Center, Ivan Allen III Pavilion. Click here for agenda. Please contact J. Moor for credentials.

The forum is co-sponsored by The Carter Center Mental Health Program, Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network, Georgia Parent Support Network, National Mental Health Association of Georgia, and the Georgia chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

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The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide. A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, the Center has helped to improve life for people in more than 65 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; improving mental health care; and teaching farmers to increase crop production. To learn more about The Carter Center, please visit: www.cartercenter.org