One day last week my husband and I were chatting with some administrators from Kern County's Department of Mental Health. Like these managers, we are concerned about the budgets cuts hitting mental health systems, public and private, and the effects on our loved one.

One person told us it cost Kern County about $10,000 to treat a person with mental illness. It costs the state about $83,000 to incarcirate that same person. Often when mental health funds are cut, folks move from treatment to jail.

One such major cut came from the state. The governor blue-penciled funds for the homeless mentally ill. Funds that help them to have housing while they start their recovery treatment. If a mental health consumer is not ready for integration into the community, s/he may be back on the streets - homeless.

The sheriff of Los Angles County stated last year that about 50% of the inmates in the county's jails were on psychiatric medication. Meaning, many of them probably arrived at the jail when in the throes of a pschotic episode or self-medicating with illegal drugs.

Mental health is being considered an option rather than a need in our state. But do the math. The cuts made in DMH will not offset the cost in other areas, like the prison system.

I want accountability for my tax dollar and this doesn't seem to be cost-effective budgeting.