State Policy and Funding of Services to Families of Adults With Serious and Persistent Mental Illness

A survey of state mental health programs was conducted to determine the extent to which states are facilitating the delivery of services to families of adults with severe and persistent mental illness. Of the 44 responding states, 73 percent did not have a policy about the types of services delivered to families, but 80 percent reported that they funded a family support intervention. The large majority of interventions supported by the states were family-to-family programs such as those sponsored by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. This study draws attention to the gap in services by mental health professionals to families and underscores the importance of the advocacy movement in obtaining funding and support for services to families.