It is a sad fact that there are people in Maine who live with mental illness. This state has failed those people who are now being locked up.

In my mind, people can and must do better and put more of a focus on community-based mental health treatment. Elected officials and the governor are all on the hook for the recent treatments at Central Maine Medical Center and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center. I am calling on all those leaders to grow a backbone and triple the reimbursement rate for community-based mental health providers and put a focus on peer support and and intervention.

It is time for a wake-up call. People go to hospitals and community providers to seek help, not a night in the local jail.

Jason Lavoie, Lewiston