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Speakers tell advisory body Bangor lacks specialized housing for people with high-acuity mental illness
Summary
Multiple commenters described a 'gray area' population that is too high-acuity for shelters and recovery housing but not eligible for specialized programs, urging expanded staffed mental-health housing and improved discharge planning.
Speakers who work in outreach and recovery warned the committee that many people with severe mental illness are discharged from hospitals without realistic housing and care plans and then return to the streets. Tyler, a resident and worker at Fresh Start, described individuals ‘‘too high acuity for programs like Fresh Start’’ who do not qualify for existing specialized housing and urged the committee to prioritize expanding professionally staffed mental-health housing and better hospital discharge planning.
Pat Kiley, a certified peer recovery coach, and other providers echoed the need for stronger care coordination, medication compliance supports and integration of mental-health and substance-use treatment in housing pathways. The committee acknowledged the gap and included targeted mapping of services and needs in its list of near-term tasks; staff will include any available assessments in the packet for the next meeting for the committee to develop concrete recommendations.
