Obama's mental health pledge for US is less than half what Texas is already spending

Fox News:

What does $100 million buy in mental health care across the country? Turns out, not much.

Timed with the one-year anniversary of the Newtown, Conn., school shootings, the White House this week announced $100 million for mental health programs.

The announcement came on the same day Vice President Biden met with the families of victims from the Sandy Hook shooting. And while many applauded the monetary commitment, a closer look shows that the federal funds pale in comparison to what the states have been committing over the past year -- and may do little to reverse decades of neglect.

Texas alone is committing more than twice the federal amount, having boosted its mental health funding by $259 million – the largest increase in state history.

According to the White House, $50 million of the $100 million will go to the Department of Health and Human Services budget to help community health centers hire more mental health professionals and provide additional services. The rest will be used by the Agriculture Department to improve mental health facilities in rural areas.
...

This should be a local issue, but it is going to take the courts getting out of the way of effective treatment of those with mental health problems.  We can't keep putting them out on the street when they are a danger to themselves and others.   Almost all of the mass murders in the US are done by people that should have been institutionalized.