Funding for mental health lacking

Another mass shooting, this one involving little children, has the country talking about the availability of guns and gun violence. But some experts and law makers say that discussion should also include a serious look at mental health care in this country.

Families with a mentally ill family member say it's difficult to get them adequate care. In the Twin Cities, for example, the shortage of beds in local hospitals for the mentally ill is so bad patients Twin Cities patients are often sent to Duluth or other places for acute care.

To look at the situation, MPR's Cathy Wurzer called longtime state Representative Mindy Greiling. The soon-to-retire lawmaker also has firsthand knowledge of the mental health system, her son has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.