So what does the future look like in Arizona now that the Legislature and the governor have made the deepest cuts in health and human services in 25 years in the last two legislative sessions? It is not a pretty picture.

While the governor proposed eliminating the Department of Juvenile Corrections as a way to save money, one private company has said it could operate the program for slightly more than half of the agency’s fiscal 2009 budget.

Massive cuts to the publicly funded behavioral health system should be a wake- up call for all Arizonians but especially for our Republican leadership whose decisions will lead to massive suffering for those with a mental illness.