ADAMH Clients Make Good Use of Legal Services
It was great to see the Oct. 6 Dispatch endorsement of Issue 14, the ADAMH Renewal levy. The Legal Aid Society of Columbus has been fortunate to have a partnership with the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health (ADAMH) Board of Franklin County over the past few years to provide legal services to low-income residents of Franklin County. This has given us insight into the fine work of ADAMH and the tremendous needs it addresses.
Studies in the past 20 years have shown a link between mental illness and poverty as a part of a complex negative cycle. Living in poverty increases an individual’s risk of mental illness and mental illness increases the chance an individual will end up poor.
We applaud ADAMH for recognizing that the needs of those who are mentally ill go beyond medication and therapy, and for helping Legal Aid stabilize the living situations of low-income individuals who are mentally ill or who have substance-abuse disorders.
