Advocate's Corner

As I write this, Mayor John Street has just begun to take some of the actions he had promised for his first 100 days in office. It's an exciting time, and we are pleased about the way things are starting to take shape in the area of behavioral health.

Perhaps most importantly, the mayor has announced that Estelle B. Richman, our superb health commissioner for the past eight years, will remain in his administration. Richman, who was the city's first health commissioner to have a background in mental health, will oversee all social services in the city.

We've also learned that the mayor is looking favorably on a proposal we made 18 months ago to create an Office of Behavioral Health Services, separate from the city's existing health department. This new entity would include Community Behavioral Health (CBH), the Office of Mental Health/Mental Retardation (OMH/MR) and the Coordinating Office of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Programs (CODAAP).

Should he decide to create this office, the mayor would be acknowledging the city's crying need for an independent behavioral health service managed by a behavioral health professional who understands managed care. Along with his decision to keep Richman, it also would be a promising first step for a mayor with an uneven history on mental health issues.

Philadelphia has never had a mayor who has had as much experience with human services as John Street. He understands the issues as well as any politician in the city.

But as city council president in 1997, he was the primary opponent of the city's plan to create and manage its own comprehensive universal behavioral health system for people receiving public assistance.

Happily, his opposition did not stop the birth of CBH or the Philadelphia Behavioral Health System, which successfully helped the city both deliver services efficiently and manage the cost of those services.

A tribute to that success came in October when the Philadelphia Behavioral Health System received one of ten national Innovations in American Government awards. The awards, which are made by the Ford Foundation and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, come with a $100,000 prize that is to be used to replicate the program in other places around the country. This was all particularly gratifying to me, since I initiated the application that resulted in the award.

Despite our reservations, Street has shown that he can learn and grow. For example, as sponsor of the Sidewalk Ordinance in 1998, which included provisions that would have criminalized homelessness in Center City, he worked with advocates to create a law that has been at least minimally acceptable to both sides.

So we are heartened by his first actions in office and applaud his decision to keep Richman.

We will be heartened even more if he decides to create an Office of Behavioral Health Services and thus affirm his commitment to the people of this city who need good behavioral healthcare.

Whatever his decision, we understand that the Street administration is still in its infancy. And we tend to take a long-range view of things.

Since opening its doors in 1951, MHASP has been the city's leading mental health advocate, committed to working to improve the lives of people with severe and persistent mental illnesses.

As we look to the future, we hope Mayor Street will continue to work with us as we strive to fulfill this commitment.