He came out of nowhere as first responders struggled to rescue Katie Lentz from a crushed car smashed by an oncoming drunken driver. According to an AP article, the crash occurred Sunday morning on Route 19 near Center Missouri. The young woman had been on her way to Jefferson City where she worked as an intern at the Community Health Center and the Missouri Primary Care Association.

After about an hour of trying to extricate Lentz from the crushed vehicle, the young women asked her rescuers to pray with her. It was then that a Catholic priest appeared with anointing oil and told everyone to remain calm. First responders reported that a sense of calm descended on everyone and soon more rescuers arrived and Lentz was extricated from her car. She is now at Blessing Hospital in Quincy Illinois, her hometown, where a recovery is expected.

Neither Lentz nor the rescuers are Catholic. Katie Lentz's pastor said: "None of us are even Catholic. Our Church is an Assembly of God Church." For the Associated Press story click here. For an article and link to a video, see this article from the Jefferson City News Tribune.

Reggie Clemons

This week Judge Michael Manners, a Special Master appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court, issued a report that showed flaws in the death penalty case of Reggie Clemons. Clemons, along with three other co-defendants, were convicted of the 1991 murders of sisters Julie and Robin Kerry in the infamous Chain of Rocks Bridge case in St. Louis. Clemons has been on death row for 20 years.

In his 100-page report Judge Manners found that prosecutors had suppressed evidence during the trial and that Clemons' confession had been forced by the police. However, Manners found that Clemons' lawyers had not proved that he was innocent.

In reaching his decisions, Manners held a special hearing in St. Louis last fall and reviewed court transcripts, video tapes and exhibits in the 22-year-old case. His report now goes to the Missouri Supreme Court who will issue a ruling. The high court could decide anything from leaving Clemons on death row to throwing out his conviction. The Clemons case has been a high profile case for death penalty abolitionists across the nation in pointing out the injustices of the death penalty system.

Increasingly, people understand that mental illness is real and not just something imagined by those who suffer from it. Left untreated, conditions like bipolar disorder (manic-depression) can lead to family breakdown, divorce and even suicide. Among the poor, mental illness too often goes untreated and is part of the story of why people become homeless.

The Missouri Department of Mental Health (DMH) reports that in fiscal year 2011 (most recent data evaluated) 55,306 adults age 18 or older accessed DMH funded mental health treatment. But a lot of mental illness in Missouri goes untreated, according to DMH's 2012 Status Report.

Early Intervention: Key to Effective 

Mental Health Treatment

Schafer said that these young people move from crisis to crisis, appearing in hospital emergency rooms. They are involuntarily committed by courts to short-term, episodic in-patient treatment, but then tend to resist follow-up outpatient help. The parents or spouses become desperate and don't know where to turn for help.

Many fall slowly into poverty and abusive relationships; some eventually turn to the services provided by DMH. Schafer said the key to reversing this tragic pattern is early intervention. The longer treatment is delayed the more difficult it is to alleviate an illness like bipolar disorder or Schizophrenia.

Understanding Medicaid: Treating Mental Illness

The Medicaid Expansion offered through the Affordable Care Act, if implemented by Missouri, would allow mental health services to be provided to more individuals who badly need treatment. The Missouri Department of Mental Health estimates that nearly 50,000 of the 300,000 who would be newly insured by the ACA Medicaid expansion would seek mental health services.

DMH Director Keith Schafer indicates the Medicaid expansion would allow his department to move from simply crisis management services to providing more early intervention that can lead a person back to health and a productive life.

Your State Government: 

Overview of the Missouri Department of 

Mental Health 

Many families in Missouri are affected by mental illness and don't know where to turn for help. The Missouri Department of Mental Health (DMH) provides a variety of services to address mental illness, substance abuse, as well as programs to assist those with disabilities.

The department's website is a great tool for a variety of information, including how and where to get help, program and service guides, links to other services and providers outside of the department, and more. The Department of Mental Health is under the direction of Keith Schafer. Two of its divisions are as follows:

•  The Division of Behavior Health (DBH) is responsible for making sure prevention, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation services are available for individuals and families that need public mental health services throughout the State of Missouri.
• The Division of Developmental Disabilities (DD) helps people who have long-term delays or disabilities in either physical or mental development.

Part of the mission of the department is to dispel social stigmas that some people may attach to persons with mental illness. The booklet Understanding Mental Illness is a good guide to understanding how mental illness affects all areas of a person's life and the lives of their family.

Will an override of Governor's Nixon veto of HB 253 - a major tax cut provision - lead to cuts in mental health services and other state programs? The Missouri Catholic Conference has no position on HB 253 but encourages both legislators and citizens to consider carefully the impact of this legislation. Legislators can consider a veto override in their September veto session.

Proponents, led by the GrowMissouri Coalition, believe the tax cuts will stimulate economic activity thereby generating more tax revenue. The end result will be continued robust funding for state services.  

Opponents, including the Nixon Administration, believe enactment of HB 253 will lead to major funding cuts in essential state services. The Missouri Department of Mental Health recently issued its analysis of how passage of HB 253 would impact mental health services.