Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant. Sen. Alan Nunnelee. Gov. Haley Barbour.

When people with mental illnesses start getting turned back into the cold and end up spending time in our jails because we do not have suitable hospitals for them, blame the three men above. They drove the budget that did the damage.

Via The Clarion-Ledger:

Among the losers are the state’s 15 community mental health centers, which provide a range of mental health, substance abuse and intellectual disabilities services to thousands of residents in all 82 counties.

The Board of Mental Health voted at its monthly meeting late last week to notify the centers that they must pay the Medicaid match debt owed or they no longer would be approved providers.

The Department of Mental Health followed up with a letter to the six organizations it says are in arrears, ordering them to pay by June 7.

That leaves those organizations three options: pony up, fold or take their battle to court.

One strong advocate for mental health facilities is Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, who chairs the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee. Here’s his take on the matter:

“My hope is that everybody realizes how serious the situation is, and let’s see if we can work something out sooner rather than later.”

At least one person fully realizes the seriousness of the problem.

“I can’t come up with $12 million without closing facilities,” said Ed LeGrand, the department’s executive di-rector.

This is a serious issue that has never received the attention from Phil Bryant and Haley Barbour it deserves.