Dozens of representatives from ACCESS, the Arab-American and Chaldean Council and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit met with members of the Michigan House of Representatives and state Senate in Lansing on Thursday, May 15 to push for health care reform in communities across southeast Michigan.
Topics of discussion included advocating for additional funding for Medicaid and mental health services for immigrant populations, as well as lobbying for a contract with the Department of Human Services to provide bilingual and culturally-sensitive service support to help immigrants and/or low-income households seeking mental health care.
According to the ACCESS Social Services Department, caseworkers saw a 15 percent increase in demand for mental health services in 2013 and are projecting an 18 percent increase for 2014.
"We increased the ability to serve more clients by improving performance processes, extending hours of operation and increasing clinician productivity levels. We are still unable to meet the high demand, however," ACCESS Social Services Director Brigitte Fawaz-Anouti said. "We need increased funding to hire more staff. Higher demand has led to unacceptably long wait times."
