States’ Budget Crisis Cut Deeply Into Financing for Mental Health Programs

TUCSON — Unlike many of her fellow governors, Jan Brewer of Arizona knows well the inner workings of her state’s mental health system: her son has schizophrenia and was committed to a state hospital more than 20 years ago after being found not guilty by reason of insanity of sexual assault and kidnapping.

Although she rarely speaks of her son’s crisis, Ms. Brewer has long been an advocate for the mental health system, pushing for state money for drugs and community programs.

But with Arizona and other states across the country facing huge budget holes, Ms. Brewer and many of her fellow governors in both parties are presiding over what is being described as a dismantling of the safety net for the mentally ill.

The cuts, denounced by activists, are gaining fresh scrutiny after a troubled young man’s shooting rampage here on Jan. 8 left 6 people dead and 13 wounded, although nobody is suggesting that budget cuts, past or present, had any connection. The man accused, Jared L. Loughner, 22, exhibited signs of bizarre behavior in the years leading up to the shootings, according to people around him, but was not known to have received a diagnosis of a mental illness, or any treatment.

“After what happened in Tucson, we need to realize that we need these programs,” said Linda Lopez, a Democratic state senator in Arizona who works in community outreach at a Tucson mental health facility.