The Louisiana welfare commissioner Friday said she could see no decline in government spending on public welfare in the next 10 years,
Mrs. Mary Evelyn Parker told a conference on Louisiana government there is need for continuing and expanded government assistance to the needy and mentally handicapped.
She asked why should there be any reduction in welfare spending in view of human needs involved? We do not expect to spend less, she said, on schools, roads, hospitals, public health and other programs.
*'Actually we expect to spend more because the population will increase and the needs in these fields will be greater/1 she said.
' CHANGE IS SEEN Public welfare programs Mrs. Parker said, * 'Will begin to change from large programs with a basic responsibility for income maintenance and rela tively little activity to preserve family life and restore people to independent living to relative ly smaller (not necessarily nu merically smaller) programs for income maintenance and much larger program of serv iices to people in need.'*
Dr. Loyd Rowland, director of, the Louisiana Assn. for Mental Health, urged* construction of a new institution for mentally retarded in the stake.
Dr. Rowland spoke at a mental health forum. He said there is a long list of people waiting to be admitted to the institution for mentally retarded at Pine-
ville. :
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"We strongly urge the con- j struction of a new hospital," he j said, "and in the. area where most of the parents are, which I is the heavily-populated area in 'the southeastern part of the ;state."
! -He said the incoming governor will have to follow this seven-point schedule to set >up a fine mental health program: j Appoint as head of the depart-1 jment of hospitals an adminis-j trator of hospitals who has anj adequate background of train-1 ing and experience.
MENTAL HEALTH UNIT
Start a division of mental tealth within the department of hospitals and head it with an administrative psychiatrist and make him. responsible for serv-ces in the mental hospitals.
Replace the "two''--hospital su-Derintendents at the East Lou-siana State hospital and the Southeast Louisiana hospital with tally trained and experienced psychiatrists.
Provide guidance centers with :ull-time staff as nearly as possible.
Extend day hospitals or mental lealth treatment centers to all the heavily populated centers, but only in proportion as it is possible to staff them adequately. •:•
Build'another- institution, for retarded children and adults.
Increase salaries in our mental health work.
It is a big program, he said, and it will take money.
Dr. Daniel Blain, California j director of mental hygiene, told | the conference mental health should be a joint project of state and private organizations.
Blain said tax resources can do only part of the job,
Enormous untapped resources of private individuals working to said, must be fully developed to meet the total challenge of mental health work.
