Ag panel hears plea for a boost in rural mental health funding

Theresia Gillie offered a deeply emotional plea Thursday for increased funding of rural mental health services.

Overwhelmed by financial stress, her husband of 32 years, Keith, died by suicide in April 2017.

“I feel this is my responsibility to make sure this doesn’t happen to anybody else,” she told the House Agriculture and Food Finance and Policy Division.

A grain farmer, Gillie is also a Kittson County commissioner and a current board member and past president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association.

[WATCH: Full video of the hearing]

Three bills to help address mental health issues among farm families were discussed by the division.

HF84, sponsored by Rep. Debra Kiel (R-Crookston), would supply $150,000 in Fiscal Year 2019 for rural mental health counseling support. HF82, also sponsored by Kiel, would increase funding for rural mental health counseling to $330,000 yearly in fiscal years 2020 and 2021.

Ted Matthews, a rural mental health counselor, testifies before the House agriculture division on legislation that would provide additional funding for mental health counseling to support farm families. Photo by Paul Battaglia

Sponsored by Rep. Jeanne Poppe (DFL-Austin), HF232 would provide an additional $30,000 for the Farm Advocates program and $217,000 for mental health counseling in 2019. The dollars would supplement funding in a 2017 law for these purposes.

HF84 and HF233 were held for possible omnibus bill inclusion, according to Poppe, the division chair. When HF82 would receive further consideration was left unclear.

The current funding level for rural mental health counseling is $113,000 per year. Last year’s vetoed omnibus budget bill would have provided an additional $217,000 in Fiscal Year 2019.

Division members learned the need for rural mental health services is beset by a lack of access. Distance reduces ready access for populations that need to factor in long drive times. And for people under financial distress, the cost of mental health care adds to the burden.

The state currently funds only one rural mental health counselor — Ted Matthews — who can be accessed free of cost. Matthews can be found on the phone or driving across the state on any given day of the week. His efforts are supported by nine farm advocates who act as a first contact for farmers and their families in need of help, for not only mental health crises, but financial and legal issues as well.

Matthews described his work as largely helping farmers and their families develop coping skills. He helps his clients redirect their focus to those actions they can take, rather than focusing on what they are unable to control.

Other programming through the Department of Agriculture helps farmers access financial planning, lender negotiation assistance, farm programs, legal services, and social and human services.