Governor Rick Snyder has called for a review of how Michigan provides mental health services.
The governor has signed two executive orders to come up with recommendations.The executive orders create two separate commissions.
Both of them will be led by Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley.
One major goal is to identify gaps that send people to jails and prisons instead of to programs that could treat their illnesses.
The plans also include teaching police, teachers, and clergy to spot signs of mental illness, earlier intervention for children with mental health issues, and helping more people get into treatment instead of being sent to jail or prison.
Administration officials say this will be the first thorough review of mental health services in Michigan since the state shut down its psychiatric hospitals in favor of community-based programs in the early 1990’s
