Jayati Ramakrishnan and Nicole Hayden, both staff reporters for The Oregonian/OregonLive, produced the first two parts of the newsroom’s in-depth examination of Oregon’s mental health system and its failures. Editor Therese Bottomly leads a discussion of what their findings have been so far.

Ramakrishnan, who has covered the Oregon State Hospital for months, traced the history of Oregon’s efforts to deinstitutionalize people with mental illness, part of a national trend decades ago. While the idea was community care would step in to fill the gap, that promised help was never fully realized.

Hayden, whose beat is covering people who are experiencing homelessness, examined how Oregon ranks at the bottom of all the states in terms of its mental health system, despite spending comparable amounts of money.

They also discuss:

–The intersection between the mental health and homelessness crises

–What works in helping people with mental illness

–What’s next for the reporting project

Part 3 published after we recorded this podcast: Oregon’s mental health workforce ‘crisis’ exacerbates challenges finding care

Find their conversation here.

Read more at oregonlive.com/mentalhealth