Mental Health Commissioner Jim Perdue On State’s Shrinking Mental Health System

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2015/08/CommissionerPerdue1.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:580;s:6:"height";i:387;s:4:"file";s:31:"2015/08/CommissionerPerdue1.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:7:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"CommissionerPerdue1-336x224.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:224;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"CommissionerPerdue1-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:29:"CommissionerPerdue1-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"CommissionerPerdue1-580x338.jpg";s:5:"width";i:580;s:6:"height";i:338;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"CommissionerPerdue1-466x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:466;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"CommissionerPerdue1-397x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:397;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:31:"CommissionerPerdue1-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_media_credit] => Array
        (
            [0] => Alabama Department of Mental Health
        )

    [_navis_media_credit_org] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_navis_media_can_distribute] => Array
        (
            [0] => 
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:383929;s:14:"optimized_size";i:200616;s:7:"percent";d:47.75;}s:5:"sizes";a:9:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:59:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/08/CommissionerPerdue1.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:218813;s:14:"optimized_size";i:76930;s:7:"percent";d:64.840000000000003;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:6:"medium";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:65:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/08/CommissionerPerdue1-80x80.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:3525;s:14:"optimized_size";i:3523;s:7:"percent";d:0.059999999999999998;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/08/CommissionerPerdue1-580x338.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:59905;s:14:"optimized_size";i:44267;s:7:"percent";d:26.100000000000001;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/08/CommissionerPerdue1-300x300.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:25584;s:14:"optimized_size";i:19196;s:7:"percent";d:24.969999999999999;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/08/CommissionerPerdue1-466x311.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:42664;s:14:"optimized_size";i:31819;s:7:"percent";d:25.420000000000002;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:67:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2015/08/CommissionerPerdue1-397x265.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:33438;s:14:"optimized_size";i:24881;s:7:"percent";d:25.59;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:2:{s:7:"success";b:0;s:5:"error";s:77:"WELL DONE. This image is already compressed, no further compression required.";}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1671958330 
1440456751

State legislators still haven’t figured out how to fix a $200 million budget deficit for the upcoming year – and time is running out. Many in Alabama who work in mental health worry that public services could be on the chopping block again, after years of cuts and the closure of three state psychiatric hospitals. Perhaps most concerned is Alabama’s new Mental Health Commissioner, Jim Perdue, who was sworn in this summer. He says with more budget cuts, mentally ill Alabamians may end up in jail rather then getting the help they need.  

This interview comes to us as part of a health care coverage collaboration between WBHM and the Alabama Media Group. 

 

A Powerball player in Arkansas has won a $1.817 billion lottery jackpot

Wednesday's Christmas Eve drawing ended the lottery game's three-month stretch without a top-prize winner. Final ticket sales pushed the jackpot higher, making it the second-largest in U.S. history.

Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura declared winner of Honduras’ presidential vote

Asfura won Honduras' presidential election, electoral authorities said Wednesday afternoon, ending a weeks-long count that has whittled away at the credibility of the nation's electoral system.

30 years ago, ‘Waiting to Exhale’ was the blockbuster Hollywood didn’t anticipate

The 1995 adaptation of Terry McMillan's novel celebrated the beauty of Black sisterhood.

When porch pirates steal medicine instead of holiday gifts

Mail theft can happen around the holidays, but sometimes, instead of getting a new iPad, the thief swipes a mail order medicine. Here's what to do about it.

Timothée Chalamet, a Neil Diamond tribute band and more in theaters for Christmas

Also in theaters this week, Jack Black and Paul Rudd star in a meta reimagining of Anaconda, Amanda Seyfried in a Shaker origin story, and Ralph Fiennes plays a World War I-era choirmaster.

In the snow, these salamanders get supercool

Blue spotted salamanders have been seen walking across snow and new research suggests how they get by in the cold.

More Front Page Coverage