Mental health services are up today at JFAC, and committee members are expressing concerns about the impact of cuts. The state has cut staff, but is still seeing as many or more patients, and the level of the severity of their illnesses has increased. "We have a more critical nature of individuals we're serving," said Ross Edmunds, division administrator for H&W.

Rep. Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, said, "The suicide rate in Idaho apparently is sixth in the nation, and I think we are the only state that doesn't have a suicide hotline." She asked Edmunds if there are any plans to correct that. "The department is working closely with the Council on Suicide Prevention and United Way to create a suicide hotline in Idaho," Edmunds responded. "My division has offered up some funds. I have about $50,000 in funds through our federal block grant that we've spent in the past on suicide prevention activities, a lot of that has been research and investigating evidence-based programs through a contractor. We're going to redirect that. ... I'm very hopeful we'll have one relatively soon."

In psychiatric hospitalization, Edmunds said, "We're dealing with a more chronic population, we're dealing with a lot more of them at our state institutions." He said there are "challenges and opportunities with this population," including that teaching them to live in an institution isn't as helpful as helping them to be able to live in the community. Therefore, he said, "We've reduced our lengths of stay." As a result, however, more are coming back for readmissions. Admissions to State Hospital South were up 100 percent in 2011 from 2008, and it's at capacity. "Staffing levels at our state hospital is really at a critical high-risk level," Edmunds told lawmakers. "We're seeing increased risk to our patients and increased risk to our staff." The department is requesting to restore 10 positions due to safety concerns, relying on federal and endowment funds rather than state general funds.