Episode 9: PA’s mental healthcare approach has problems (a series)

A new series on mental health and a look at chronic homelessness amongst the mentally ill.

• Katie Meyer
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Katie Meyer was WITF’s Capitol Bureau Chief from 2016-2020. While at WITF, she covered all things state politics for public radio stations throughout Pennsylvania. Katie came to Harrisburg by way of New York City, where she worked at Fordham University’s public radio station, WFUV, as an anchor, general assignment reporter, and co-host of an original podcast. A 2016 graduate of Fordham, she earned several awards for her work at WFUV, including four 2016 Gracies.
  
  Katie is a native New Yorker, though she originally hails from Troy, a little farther up the Hudson River. She can attest that the bagels are still pretty good there.
  
  WITF's Capitol Bureau Chief Desk is partially funded through generous gifts made in the memory of Tony May through the Anthony J. May Memorial Fund.
  
  For more information about Tony May, click here.

WITF, Transforming Health, and PA Post are launching a series on mental health called Through the Cracks. Over a number of months, we’ll be covering the realities of people who live with mental illness, the stigmas involved, and how public policy can help—or, often, hurt—vulnerable people.

The first installment was reported by Brett Sholtis, who took a close look at why people with serious mental health issues often wait a really, really long time for the services they need.

We’ll explain the wide-ranging impact of state’s transition away from institutionalizing the mentally ill, toward integrating patients into communities. We’ll discuss why state mental health funding has declined over the last 25 years, and we’ll preview some of the stories Brett is tackling later in the series.

Plus, Kiera McGuire, a producer for WITF and Transforming Health, will discuss a story she recently reported about one all-to-common side effect of chronic mental health issues: homelessness.