NEWS RELEASE – Former Washington Post reporter and author, Pete Earley, to speak at Tri-County Mental Health Services Annual Banquet and Fundraiser

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The 28th Annual Tri-County Mental Health Services Banquet and Fundraiser will feature keynote speaker and former Washington Post reporter and author, Pete Earley, who will address the state of mental health in the U.S. as well the breakdown of the justice system in dealing with people with mental disorders. The banquet will be at 6 p.m. Monday, August 20 at the Argosy Casino.

Pete Earley is the author of 11 nonfiction book, including four New York Times bestsellers. He is best known for his nonfiction book, CRAZY: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness, which was one of two finalists for the 2007 Pulitzer Prize. CRAZY describes Earley’s struggle to get his adult son help after he develops a severe mental illness and is arrested. Earley spent ten months inside the Miami Dade County jail where he followed persons with mental disorders through the criminal justice system and out onto the streets to see what happened to them.

Earley serves as the lone parent member of the Department of Health and Human Service’s Interdepartmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinating Committee, composed of 14 public members who advise Congress about mental health reform. He has testified five times before the congress about the need for mental health reform and has lectured in four foreign countries.

He writes regularly for USA TODAY and The Washington Post about mental health issues and also writes a weekly blog at http://www.peteearley.com/ about mental health issues that often is quoted by the media.

In addition to Pete Earley’s talk, the banquet will include dinner, awards and recognition of one of Tri-County’s outstanding consumers.

450 people attended the 2017 Annual Banquet on August 28, featuring Suzy Favor Hamilton, former Olympian track star and survivor of a misdiagnosed mental illness.

 For sponsorship information, please contact Dan Ryan, Director of Development, at danr@tri-countymhs.org or visit tri-countymhs.org/annual-banquet.

To purchase an individual ticket or table, please visit https://beaconmentalhealth.org/annual-banquet/.

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