Connecticut's failure to provide adequate prevention, diagnosis, treatment and support for the growing number of residents seeking help for mental illness has cost the state plenty. It has cost many who suffer from these illnesses even more.

Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan is dead right in asserting that Connecticut does not need more studies to determine that its mental health system is in crisis. It needs action.

Very little has happened in the four years since a blue-ribbon task force made recommendations for fixing the system. With too few services available in their communities and too few treatment options, adults and children with mental illness continue to be warehoused in emergency rooms, hospitals, jails or nursing homes at public expense. Many go untreated and end up in homeless shelters and on the street. What's more, only a fifth of those who need treatment actually get it.

The situation has never been more urgent. The state Department of Correction reports a 40 percent increase in prisoners with mental illness in four years. They now make up 16 percent of the prison population and, at $44,000 a year per head, are serving longer sentences due to lack of community alternatives.

Adults with serious mental illnesses end up in nursing homes for the same reason; there are few alternatives. This care is not only expensive, but inappropriate.

Timely treatment can mean the difference between recovery and lifelong disability, yet young adults with mental health problems can wait up to two years for proper care.

At the request of Gov. M. Jodi Rell, Mr. Sullivan and a cabinet of experts have put together a comprehensive blueprint for repairing and rebuilding the system. It covers every facet, from education to treatment to supportive housing, complete with estimated costs and
suggestions for how to pay for it. This intelligent strategy merits more than token attention from the legislature.

Some will balk at the estimated cost - $34.5 million in the first year and up to $64.6 million in the fourth and final year. And it may not be realistic to tackle it all at once. But as Mr. Sullivan points out, the net cost would be drastically lowered if the state takes advantage of a federal program that offers states money to provide services that
rehabilitate.

It's hard to understand why, but Connecticut, according to Mr. Sullivan, is the only state in the nation that has failed to take full advantage of the millions available for this worthy purpose. In a budget discussion with The Courant's editorial board recently, Mrs. Rell
implied that applying for federal matching funds would require the state to spend more, something she doesn't see happening because of a projected $1.3 billion deficit.

The truth is that the state already pays out of pocket for rehabilitative services that it could be reimbursed for. It also spends far too much on extravagantly expensive, ineffective care of the mentally ill. If some of that money were re-invested in the priorities Mr. Sullivan has outlined, the state would benefit in the long run.