Impact of Trump Election on Federal Mental Health Policy

(Full disclosure: I am a left-wing Democrat.) 

Here are two snippets from Trump's policy platform on serious mental illness From Trump Healthcare page: "Finally, we need to reform our mental health programs and institutions in this country. Families, without the ability to get the information needed to help those who are ailing, are too often not given the tools to help their loved ones. There are promising reforms being developed in Congress that should receive bi-partisan support. https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/HCReformPaper.pdf From Trump 2nd Amendment page: "Fix our broken mental health system. All of the tragic mass murders that occurred in the past several years have something in common – there were red flags that were ignored. We can’t allow that to continue. We must expand treatment programs, and reform the laws to make it easier to take preventive action to save innocent lives. Most people with mental health problems are not violent, but just need help, and these reforms will help everyone. https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/constitution-and-second-amendment

Democrats

My experience is that Dems are willing to throw money at improving mental health in the 18% of adults who may have some form of illness (anxiety, ADHD, mild depression, etc.) but they won't admit to the unpleasant truths that need to be recognized to help the 4% of adults with serious mental illness. Dems will not admit that not everyone recovers, that when the most seriously ill go untreated they are more violent than others, that some people do need hospitals, that involuntary treatment is better than incarceration, etc. 

If they won't admit the problems, they will not solve them. They are also unduly influenced by the mental health industry, much of which wants to continue to receive mental health funds, free of any obligation to help the seriously ill. As an example, the mental health industry is cheering the new Obama-appointed federal Mental Health Parity Task Force Report, in spite of the fact that it left out the most seriously ill. I have previously written on Hillary Clinton's failure to focus on the seriously mentally ill. And today, election day, the NY Daily News gave big play to my op-ed on the failure of NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio to focus the $850 million NYC mental health plan on the seriously ill. Again: this is from a Dem.

Republicans

On the other hand, Republicans are concerned about the effect of homelessness and untreated serious mental illness on quality of life, the spiraling cost of funding pop-psychology and politically-correct pablum (MHFA, stigma etc.) and disturbed by the growing jail populations. So while they are tight-fisted and may be less willing to fund the worthy, but tangential social services that often are wrapped in a mental health narrative, I have found they are willing to fund evidence based interventions that really do prevent homelessness, arrest and incarceration of the most seriously ill. Even if one argues Republicans have (what to some are) impure motives for supporting mental illness reform (i.e., to stave off calls for gun control), that still gets them focused on improving mental illness treatment. From our perspective, that is a good thing.


Trump
So from a mental illness policy perspective, if Trump sticks to what has become Republican orthodoxy (a big 'if', i.e, focus on the most seriously ill), then perhaps things will get better. For example, he could start by "Draining the Swamp" at SAMHSA/CMHS, which is funding so much anti-psychiatry and anti-science that passes as "recovery" or "trauma" treatment these days.

One idea for Trump would be to appoint this person as SAMHSA Administrator. She was the former Medical Director of SAMHSA, and wrote this devastating critique on SAMHSA/CMHS when she left. Reforming SAMHSA and CMHS is more likely to happen under Republicans, than Dems (assuming again that Trump is a Republican). Of course, he has also promised to dismantle the Affordable Care Act which would hurt persons with mental illness as it hurts all others. And it is hard to pin him down on specifics. 

Effect on Mental Illness Legislation in Senate

The Senate will come back to work for just a few short weeks before the new administration takes over. They do have mental health reform on their calendar, but it is questionable as to whether there is actually enough time in the short session to get around to it, and if they do get around to it, will it be the weak bills they are currently considering or something stronger.  We should try to get the Senate to take up and pass the The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR2646) during this short lame duck session. It passed House in uniquely bipartisan 422-2 vote. It will start to get the federal mental health agencies to focus more on the seriously ill, help create more hospital beds, fund programs like Kendra's Law and focus on programs that have evidence of efficacy.  Mental Illness legislation should not have to wait until a new administration takes office.

Call your two U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121 and urge him/her to bring the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR2646) to a vote in Senate as soon as Senate returns to work.  Mental Health reform should not be put on hold until the new administration takes over. The call takes two minutes



###

Thanks for all you do. Reminder. My book, Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Seriously Ill is a valuable advocacy tool that can be pre-ordered on Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Follow Mental Illness Policy Org on Facebook and Twitter.

Impact of Trump Election on Federal Mental Health Policy

(Full disclosure: I am a left-wing Democrat.) 

Here are two snippets from Trump's policy platform on serious mental illness From Trump Healthcare page: "Finally, we need to reform our mental health programs and institutions in this country. Families, without the ability to get the information needed to help those who are ailing, are too often not given the tools to help their loved ones. There are promising reforms being developed in Congress that should receive bi-partisan support. https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/HCReformPaper.pdf From Trump 2nd Amendment page: "Fix our broken mental health system. All of the tragic mass murders that occurred in the past several years have something in common – there were red flags that were ignored. We can’t allow that to continue. We must expand treatment programs, and reform the laws to make it easier to take preventive action to save innocent lives. Most people with mental health problems are not violent, but just need help, and these reforms will help everyone. https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/constitution-and-second-amendment

Democrats

My experience is that Dems are willing to throw money at improving mental health in the 18% of adults who may have some form of illness (anxiety, ADHD, mild depression, etc.) but they won't admit to the unpleasant truths that need to be recognized to help the 4% of adults with serious mental illness. Dems will not admit that not everyone recovers, that when the most seriously ill go untreated they are more violent than others, that some people do need hospitals, that involuntary treatment is better than incarceration, etc. 

If they won't admit the problems, they will not solve them. They are also unduly influenced by the mental health industry, much of which wants to continue to receive mental health funds, free of any obligation to help the seriously ill. As an example, the mental health industry is cheering the new Obama-appointed federal Mental Health Parity Task Force Report, in spite of the fact that it left out the most seriously ill. I have previously written on Hillary Clinton's failure to focus on the seriously mentally ill. And today, election day, the NY Daily News gave big play to my op-ed on the failure of NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio to focus the $850 million NYC mental health plan on the seriously ill. Again: this is from a Dem.

Republicans

On the other hand, Republicans are concerned about the effect of homelessness and untreated serious mental illness on quality of life, the spiraling cost of funding pop-psychology and politically-correct pablum (MHFA, stigma etc.) and disturbed by the growing jail populations. So while they are tight-fisted and may be less willing to fund the worthy, but tangential social services that often are wrapped in a mental health narrative, I have found they are willing to fund evidence based interventions that really do prevent homelessness, arrest and incarceration of the most seriously ill. Even if one argues Republicans have (what to some are) impure motives for supporting mental illness reform (i.e., to stave off calls for gun control), that still gets them focused on improving mental illness treatment. From our perspective, that is a good thing.


Trump
So from a mental illness policy perspective, if Trump sticks to what has become Republican orthodoxy (a big 'if', i.e, focus on the most seriously ill), then perhaps things will get better. For example, he could start by "Draining the Swamp" at SAMHSA/CMHS, which is funding so much anti-psychiatry and anti-science that passes as "recovery" or "trauma" treatment these days.

One idea for Trump would be to appoint this person as SAMHSA Administrator. She was the former Medical Director of SAMHSA, and wrote this devastating critique on SAMHSA/CMHS when she left. Reforming SAMHSA and CMHS is more likely to happen under Republicans, than Dems (assuming again that Trump is a Republican). Of course, he has also promised to dismantle the Affordable Care Act which would hurt persons with mental illness as it hurts all others. And it is hard to pin him down on specifics. 

Effect on Mental Illness Legislation in Senate

The Senate will come back to work for just a few short weeks before the new administration takes over. They do have mental health reform on their calendar, but it is questionable as to whether there is actually enough time in the short session to get around to it, and if they do get around to it, will it be the weak bills they are currently considering or something stronger.  We should try to get the Senate to take up and pass the The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR2646) during this short lame duck session. It passed House in uniquely bipartisan 422-2 vote. It will start to get the federal mental health agencies to focus more on the seriously ill, help create more hospital beds, fund programs like Kendra's Law and focus on programs that have evidence of efficacy.  Mental Illness legislation should not have to wait until a new administration takes office.

Call your two U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121 and urge him/her to bring the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (HR2646) to a vote in Senate as soon as Senate returns to work.  Mental Health reform should not be put on hold until the new administration takes over. The call takes two minutes



###

Thanks for all you do. Reminder. My book, Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Seriously Ill is a valuable advocacy tool that can be pre-ordered on Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Follow Mental Illness Policy Org on Facebook and Twitter.

NYC Health & Hospitals Corp Kicked Mental Health Advocate (Me) Out of Meeting.

Last night (October 24) I was prevented from attending the 2016 Annual PUBLIC meeting of the Harlem Community Advisory board to NYC Health and Hospitals Corp. It was in the second floor auditorium of Harlem Hospital.

The annual meeting was entitled, “Understanding the Roadmap to Mental Health.” The word “roadmap” refers to ThriveNYC, the $800 million NYC mental health plan. Since I think it is failing because it funds pop-psychology and useless programs and generally ignores serious mental illness, I thought attendees would be a good audience to share my point of view with.

So I made up a package of three handouts: a one-pager on why I believe ThriveNYC is failing, a copy of the critical article on ThriveNYC that Seth Baron wrote for City Journal and a fact sheet containing the research on Kendra’s Law, a useful program that Dr. Gary Belkin, the director of mental health services in NYC refuses to make available to most who could benefit from it.

As I usually do, I showed up early (I knew several people who are members of Harlem NAMI, as am I) and started handing out my fact sheet to those few who were already seated. This all took place before the event started.

A man came over and told me I couldn’t hand out literature. I explained that it was directly related to the purpose of this PUBLIC meeting. He said I couldn’t and asked me to leave. I was pretty sure I was within my rights, and I said that at a public meeting all sides should be allowed to present their point of view. He said, “We are trying to build support for the Roadmap and you want to say it doesn’t work so you have to leave” 

While I was gathering my belongings a woman who identified herself as Detective Fleming came over, and said Mr. Cook said I had to leave. I asked who that was and she said he was (I think) a hospital (Community Affairs?) Director. I said that I was surprised as a police officer that she takes orders from him, versus someone at NYPD, but she said she is a detective, but did not work for NYPD, she works for the hospital and escorted me out. Note that I was very calm and so were they. We had a disagreement, that is all, and they said they had the right to force me to leave, and I didn’t know enough to know if they are right or not.

Guards posted outside Harlem Hospital to make sure no literature questioning efficacy of ThriveNYC was given to participants at public hearing on Thrive NYC (10.24.27)

So I left and started handing out my literature on the street to people who were going into Harlem Hospital. I would ask, “Are you going to the mental health meeting” and if they answered in the affirmative, I handed them literature. At that point Detective Fleming and a big guy who I took to be a boss (Cook?) and a little guard came out and told me I couldn’t hand out literature in front of the hospital. I said, respectfully, that I am ex-hippie who has participated in many protests and I am pretty sure I am allowed to hand out literature on the sidewalk. The big guy tried to mildly intimidate me and said, “Do you want me to ratchet this up.” And at that point I took a big breath and said, “yes, I think I do.” (In my mind, I was thinking, if he wants to escalate this, he will likely call police and if they tell me I can't hand out literature, I would have to take their word for it.) He went inside-I thought to call police-and the other security guards stayed behind to watch me and tell me repeatedly I had to leave. I didn’t. I continued. And they continued to tell me I had to leave. I must have been right, because even though they stayed around watching me, continually saying I could not hand out literature, they did nothing when I did.

I was frankly very surprised. It did get the adrenaline going a little a bit. I had thoughts about a night in jail, something that hasn't happened to me since the Vietnam War Protests in DC. 

I think they were wrong to try to shut down free-speech, especially, as I wasn’t even saying anything, just handing out literature. I don’t think it was part of any cabal, although frankly I don’t understand it, as handing out literature at a public meeting is fairly mom and apple pie. 

I do think it explains one important reason why ThriveNYC is failing to serve the seriously mentally ill. First Lady Chirlane McCray, Deputy Mayor Richard Buery and others are only hearing from mental "health" officials, mental "health" industry reps, and mental "health" advocates. 

In fact, they usually won't even use the term "mental illness" as if it were a pejorative. 

 I don't think McCray or Buery had anything to do with me being kept out. T

he most likely reason officials kept me out was because they wanted to  avoid upsetting them by having it get back to them that someone questioned their program publicly. McCray and Buery are not hearing from those of us who care about the seriously mentally "ill". The mental health industry loves to receive money from the city without any obligation to serve the seriously ill. And McCray and Buery's ThriveNYC largely gives it to them.

Read thoughtful articles about ThriveNYC failing the most seriously ill here or here and here

NYC Health & Hospitals Corp Kicked Mental Health Advocate (Me) Out of Meeting.

Last night (October 24) I got kicked out of the 2016 Annual PUBLIC meeting of the Harlem Community Advisory board to NYC Health and Hospitals Corp. It was in the second floor auditorium of Harlem Hospital.

The annual meeting was entitled, “Understanding the Roadmap to Mental Health.” The word “roadmap” refers to ThriveNYC, the $800 million NYC mental health plan. Since I think it is failing because it funds pop-psychology and useless programs and generally ignores serious mental illness, I thought attendees would be a good audience to share my point of view with.

So I made up a package of three handouts: a one-pager on why I believe ThriveNYC is failing, a copy of the critical article on ThriveNYC that Seth Baron wrote for City Journal and a fact sheet containing the research on Kendra’s Law.  

As I usually do, I showed up early (I knew several people who are members of Harlem NAMI, as am I) and started handing out my fact sheet to those few who were already seated. This all took place before the event started.

A man came over and told me I couldn’t hand out literature. I explained that it was directly related to the purpose of this PUBLIC meeting. He said I couldn’t and asked me to leave. I was pretty sure I was within my rights, and I said that at a public meeting all sides should be allowed to present their point of view. He said, “We are trying to build support for the Roadmap and you want to say it doesn’t work so you have to leave” 

While I was gathering my belongings a woman who identified herself as Detective Fleming came over, and said Mr. Cook said I had to leave. I asked who that was and she said he was (I think) a hospital (Community Affairs?) Director. I said that I was surprised as a police officer that she takes orders from him, versus someone at NYPD, but she said she is a detective, but did not work for NYPD, she works for the hospital and escorted me out. Note that I was very calm and so were they. We had a disagreement, that is all, and they said they had the right to force me to leave, and I didn’t know enough to know if they are right or not.

Guards posted outside Harlem Hospital to make sure no literature questioning efficacy of ThriveNYC was given to participants at public hearing on Thrive NYC (10.24.27)

So I left and started handing out my literature on the street to people who were going into Harlem Hospital. I would ask, “Are you going to the mental health meeting” and if they answered in the affirmative, I handed them literature. At that point Detective Fleming and a big guy who I took to be a boss (Cook?) and a little guard came out and told me I couldn’t hand out literature in front of the hospital. I said, respectfully, that I am ex-hippie who has participated in many protests and I am pretty sure I am allowed to hand out literature on the sidewalk. The big guy tried to mildly intimidate me and said, “Do you want me to ratchet this up.” And at that point I took a big breath and said, “yes, I think I do.” (In my mind, I was thinking, if he wants to escalate this, he will likely call police and if they tell me I can't hand out literature, I would have to take their word for it.) He went inside-I thought to call police-and the other security guards stayed behind to watch me and tell me repeatedly I had to leave. I didn’t. I continued. And they continued to tell me I had to leave. I must have been right, because even though they stayed around watching me, continually saying I could not hand out literature, they did nothing when I did.

I was frankly very surprised. It did get the adrenaline going a little a bit. I had thoughts about a night in jail, something that hasn't happened to me since the Vietnam War Protests in DC. 

I think they were wrong to try to shut down free-speech, especially, as I wasn’t even saying anything, just handing out literature. I don’t think it was part of any cabal, although frankly I don’t understand it, as handing out literature at a public meeting is fairly mom and apple pie. 

I do think it explains one important reason why ThriveNYC is failing to serve the seriously mentally ill. First Lady Chirlane McCray, Deputy Mayor Richard Buery and others are only hearing from mental "health" officials, mental "health" industry reps, and mental "health" advocates. 

In fact, they usually won't even use the term "mental illness" as if it were a pejorative. 

 I don't think McCray or Buery had anything to do with me being kept out. T

he most likely reason officials kept me out was because they wanted to  avoid upsetting them by having it get back to them that someone questioned their program publicly. McCray and Buery are not hearing from those of us who care about the seriously mentally "ill". The mental health industry loves to receive money from the city without any obligation to serve the seriously ill. And McCray and Buery's ThriveNYC largely gives it to them.

Read thoughtful articles about ThriveNYC failing the most seriously ill here or here and here

This Book Could Help You Change the Mental Health System Forever: Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill

Now available  for pre-order. I am proud to say Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill is now available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.   This critically important book gives people who care about the seriously mentally ill the facts they need to be better advocates and provides specific guidance on how to force the mental health system to deliver better treatment. It documents the failure of the mental health system, tells who is to blame, provides you direct links to policy and treatment research, and describes specific actionable ideas to reform the system. The brilliant foreword by Dr. E. Fuller Torrey (Author, Surviving Schizophrenia) puts these proposals in perspective. Please pre-order Insane Consequences on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.  For the record, 100% of my proceeds will go to Mental Illness Policy Org. and other organizations working to improve care for the seriously ill. I am not making a nickel on this, I am simply trying to help. It is 340 pages and we have kept the pre-order price low, considering the size of the book: $25 for hard cover and $11.99 for Nook and Kindle. Both Amazon and Barnes and Noble let you read a detailed description of the book and they include reviews of my past work. (Note: if you buy it via smile.amazon, a portion of the proceeds will go direct from Amazon to the charity of your choice. I would suggest Treatment Advocacy Center or whatever is important to you.) Thank you for considering pre-ordering Insane Consequences. I don't think you will be disappointed and I know you will be helping improve care for others who have serious mental illness. Thanks for all you do. Please share with others who care.

NYS Needs Kendra's Law & Psychiatric Hospitals. Don't let mental health industry close them

The two trade associations representing NYS mental health providers (NYAPRS and MHA) are having their annual rally in Albany tomorrow (Tue. 2/23). We OPPOSE their attempts to move mental health spending away from the 5% who are the most seriously mentally ill and towards the higher functioning. Their proposals to end Kendra’s Law and close state psychiatric hospitals puts patients, police, and public at needless risk. We will be in Albany on Tuesday to oppose raiding services that treat the seriously mentally ill.

1. Support making Kendra’s Law Permanent and Stronger. (S-04722/A01275).

While NAMI/NYS supports this, the trade associations do not. Kendra’s Law is NY’s most successful program for the most seriously mentally ill. It allows judges to order someone who already accumulated multiple episodes of arrest, violence, incarceration or needless hospitalization to stay in six months of mandated and monitored treatment while they continue to live free in the community. It is only available to those who already refused to accept voluntary treatment that was made available to them. It also allows judges to order community programs to accept these individuals into their programs. Kendra’s Law is proven to reduce arrest, violence, hospitalization and incarceration in 80% range each, cut costs to taxpayers and reduce stigma. 81% of those in it said it helped them get well and stay well.

S04722/A01275 make Kendra’s Law permanent, ensure court orders are reviewed before expiring, requires community directors to take reports from family members about loved ones who might benefit, and lowers cost by allowing patients to voluntarily stipulate to Kendra’s Law orders. The NYS Assoc. of Chiefs of Police support.

2. Oppose Closing more Psychiatric Hospital Beds.

The trade associations are supporting Gov. Cuomo’s budget proposal to close 225 more psychiatric beds that serve the seriously mentally ill. We oppose. The trade associations look at these beds as a bank account and want them closed so the savings can be given to their member organizations. But there are two problems with that. NYS is short at least 4,000 psychiatric hospital beds even if we had perfect community programs. So closing hospitals guarantees the sickest will not receive treatment. Secondly, even when some savings are given to community programs, they refuse to use them to provide actual treatment to the same adults who are being discharged from hospitals. Instead the funds are used on wasteful sideshows like educating the public, fighting ‘stigma’, identifying the asymptomatic, or funding programs with no evidence of efficacy. As a result, NYS has more mentally ill incarcerated than hospitalized. The percentage of prisoners in NYC jails with mental illness shot up 30% between 2010 and 2014.

We do support increasing housing options, but first we must increase those that provide 24/7 onsite support (group homes), versus the independent housing options supported by the trade associations that serve the higher functioning.

New Report: $4 to $8 billion of mental health funds lost to fraud, waste, and excess profits

Unbiased Information For Policymakers + Media

50 East 129 St., PH7 New York, NY 10035

office@mentalillnesspolicy.org mentalillnesspolicy.org

News Release

September 28, 2015

Contact: Lead Author, Dr. E. Fuller Torrey

torreyf@stanleyresearch.org 

301-571-2078

New report suggests that $4 to $8 billion in public mental health funds are being lost to fraud, waste, and excess profits. 

These funds are sufficient to provide significant psychiatric services to most of the estimated 216,000 individuals with serious mental illness who are homeless as well as the 350,000 who are in jail or prison. (Full report)

(New York. NY) Public mental illness services have markedly deteriorated over the past three decades. The “mayhem du jour” includes mentally ill individuals carrying out mass killings; overflowing jails and prisons; being kept in emergency rooms for days while awaiting a psychiatric bed; being killed by law enforcement officials; and taking up permanent residence on the nation’s sidewalks and other public spaces. It is widely assumed that the cause of the problem is a decrease in public funds for mental illness treatment programs, when in fact the funds available to state mental health agencies in constant dollars have increased modestly since 1982. So where does the money go?

A new report, “Fraud, Waste and Excess Profits: The Fate of Money Intended to Treat People with Serious Mental Illness”, suggests a partial answer. Between $4 and $8 billion, which is 10 to 20 percent of the $40 billion spent annually by state mental health agencies, is being lost to fraud, waste, and excess profits to for-profit managed care companies. For example:

1.         In 2014 we identified 18 media accounts of mental health Medicare and Medicaid fraud, totaling approximately $1 billion. A nurse in Iowa submitted more than 6,000 false claims; a social worker in North Carolina submitted claims for 64 hours of therapy in a single day; and a mental health center in Louisiana submitted $258 million in false Medicare claims for partial hospitalization.

2.         California voters in 2004 approved a special tax to generate new revenue for providing services for individuals with serious mental illness. The tax produces over $1 billion each year. However, some of the MHSA funds have been wasted by being diverted to activities such as yoga, line-dancing, therapeutic drumming, and community gardens.

3.         For profit managed care companies are commonly allowed to keep up to 20 percent of state contracts for administrative costs and profit. In Florida WellCare was given a contract to provide mental health care to the state’s Medicaid population. A WellCare vice-president was recorded as claiming that the company was keeping 50 percent of the contract. Three WellCare executives were subsequently convicted of fraud and sentenced to prison.

Such findings suggest that Richard Kusserow, the former Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, was correct in 2014 when he claimed that “many healthcare fraud investigators believe mental healthcare givers, such as psychiatrists and psychologists, have the worst fraud record of all disciplines.”

The present report also makes several recommendations. The federal Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT Task Force) should be significantly expanded since it has been shown to pay for itself. State mental health agencies should exert active, assertive oversight over community programs. This oversight should include vigorous examination of Medicaid and Medicare claims; unannounced audits of community mental health programs looking for fraud and waste; and a prohibition on the use of for-profit managed care companies. Such corrective actions are unlikely to happen unless mental health advocacy groups and the public in general demand it.

In commenting on the report, lead author Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, Associate Director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute noted: “The core problem is not how much money is being spent, but rather how much money is being misspent. Until we mental health professionals clean up our act, just throwing more money at the problem is not going to solve it.” 

The other authors of the report are D.J. Jaffe, Executive Director of Mental Illness Policy Org.; Dr. Jeffrey L. Geller, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School; and Dr. Richard Lamb, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

The complete report is available at http://www.mentalillnesspolicy.org/national-studies/wastereport.pdf

Re: NYPD Shootings: Cuomo Should Sign "Prisoner Mental Health Discharge Bill" Today

Even after mentally ill ex-prisoner Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot New York Police Department officers Liu Wenjin and Raphael Ramosa, New York State Governor Cuomo is refusing to sign a bill (S7818) that passed both houses and is on his desk right now. 

The “Prisoners Mental Health Discharge Planning Bill”  would require prison officials to make sure prisoners with mental illness who are being released are 

• given a discharge plan, 
• an appointment with a community program, 
• and enough medications to last until the appointment. 
• It also adds parole officials to the list of people who can refer someone with a mental illness to a hospital for evaluation. 

Ismaaiyl Brinsley was reported by his mom to be mentally ill, and reported to have been previously institutionalized and incarcerated. While Brinsley was not released from a New York prison, this bill would help improve care and prevent violence by those with mental illness who are. Cuomo should sign it today. 

Supporters

Mental Illness Policy Org.  

NYS Association of Chiefs of Police 

National Alliance on Mental Illness of NYS  

Sponsors 

Senator Catharine Young (Senator representing Kendra Webdale’s parents district in Buffalo)  

Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell (NYC)  

We also note that Mayor DeBlasio's Task Force on Mentally Ill at Riker's failed to include expansion of Kendra's Law in their recommendations. Kendra's Law reduces homelessness, arrest, violence and incarceration by the mentally ill prisoners who are enrolled by keeping them in mandated and monitored community treatment.

In both Albany and NY officials are ignoring the most seriously ill. 

Finally, we thank Rep. Tim Murphy (R.PA) for introducing HR 3717, The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act which addresses serious mental illness rather than ignoring it.

(This was written quickly. Sorry for any typos). 

Visit http://mentalillnesspolicy.org for science based info on serious mental illness intersecting with violence.