Can You Spot the Face of Mental Illness?

Shortsighted Savings on Mental Health Care

Whatever else the 2009 Legislature does, it must change the way this state deals with the mentally ill.

Not just because people with severe psychiatric problems need it. Taxpayers and the public at large are also poorly served – and placed at risk – by failures to connect sick people to the help they need.

A string of violent crimes, most recently a rampage that left six dead in Skagit County, has underscored the problem in the most appalling way.

In the case of 28-year-old Isaac Zamora, who’s been accused of the Skagit killings, family members desperately sought to get him into care as his behavior grew more bizarre and violent.

One characteristic of severe mental illness is that it often leaves patients resisting the very treatment they need. Nor, in this state, can they be required to accept therapy except in the most dire cases. Washington law – as extreme as any in the country – bars mandatory treatment unless disturbed people pose an imminent threat to themselves or others.

The killing of a woman in Seattle last year by another violent, mentally ill man led King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg to convene a task force to study the problem. It is reportedly about to propose several legislative measures, including:

• Broader power to enforce outpatient treatment.
• Giving police easier access to suspects’ mental health histories.
• Letting the people who make involuntary commitment decisions take into account a patient’s record of violence – not just the imminent threat in the here-and-now.

Good ideas. Another good idea would be to completely rethink how the state spends its money dealing with the people with psychiatric disturbances.

A recent analysis by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer estimated that Washington sinks a staggering $1.8 billion a year into mental illness. Unfortunately, only about $530 million of that goes to anything related to treatment.

More than twice that sum is spent doing other things with the mentally ill – such as arresting, jailing or prosecuting disturbed people who might never have run afoul of the law if they’d received proper care. Or holding them in emergency rooms at great expense to the public.

This staggering waste of money results from a false economy. The state government has long refused to cover the real up-front costs of psychiatric treatment. According to the P-I analysis, Washington ranks last in the country for providing community-based psychiatric beds – even as it continues to eliminate beds at Western State Hospital.

It makes no kind of sense to skimp on care for severely disturbed individuals until some of them explode. Dealing with mental illness on the cheap has proven very expensive in this state.

Tacoma News Tribune

NAMI Washington Public Policy Committee Prioritizes Your Legislative Positions

Reminder:   Each NAMI affiliate member has been contacted for their input to assist in the development of NAMI Washington’s top legislative priorities via e-mail.    

Jim Adams, NAMI South King County,  and others are actively engaged and working with other organizations/agencies with goals similar to ours, including the Washington State Hospital Association  in drafting a priority list.  The state budget forecast for the upcoming year appears to have large deficits as compared to expected revenues.  Nonetheless, members’ input is needed to accomplish priorities finalization for our state organization.   

If you have questions that need answers,  contact Gordon Bopp, your Public Policy Representative for Tri-Cities and Walla Walla at 946-8291 – e-mail grbopp@charter.net.

October Adult “Ask the Doctor” Call with Guest Dr. Carl Fulwiler

The topic of the call will be, “Substance Abuse and Criminal Justice Involvement in People with Mental Illness.”

Please join us for our monthly adult issues conference call with NAMI’s Medical Director Dr. Ken Duckworth, and guest Dr. Carl Fulwiler.

Dr. Fulwiler an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UMass Medical School where he is Director of Clinical Neuroscience at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital and Director of the Mental Health Agency Research Network. He is currently working on developing jail diversion services for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and also conducts research on violent behavior associated with mental illness and substance abuse.

The call is toll free and scheduled from 11-12:30 Eastern Time on Friday, October 31st.

To access the call, please dial 1-888-858-6021; access number 309918.  This call can be made from any phone.

Free Webinar

Improving Law Enforcement Responses to People with Mental Illnesses

Tuesday, October 28, 2008, 2:00 PM Eastern Time

Duration: Approximately One Hour with Q and A

Presenters:

Captain Richard Wall, Los Angeles Police Department; Fred Osher, M.D., Director of Health Systems and Services Policy, CSG Justice Center; Melissa Reuland, Senior Research Consultant, Police Executive Research Forum.

Law enforcement officers regularly respond to calls that involve people with mental illnesses. On rare but highly publicized occasions, these incidents result in injury or death for the individual, officers, or others at the scene. More often, officers spend long periods of time on these complex calls for service only to see the person cycling through the criminal justice system without any positive long-term effect.

· The webinar spotlights Improving Responses to People with Mental Illnesses: The Essential Elements of a Specialized Law Enforcement –Based Program, a report supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice. Written by the Council of State Governments Justice Center and Police Executive Research Forum, it highlights 10 key components for improving officers’ encounters with individuals with mental illnesses.

Quick Registration: Registration is free but is limited to the first 1,000 registrants!

To register, go to http://www2.eventsvc.com/nationalcouncil/, select “Law Enforcement and Mental Illness” event, and enter the coupon code COUNCIL at checkout.

If registering for a webinar for the first time, create a profile with the email and password of you choice. A confirmation with webinar access information will be sent to the email address you enter.

Participation will require Internet access and a phone line. Participants from the same location are encouraged to use a single phone line – one individual may register and get access information for the whole group.

Questions? Contact Communications@thenationalcouncil.org or call 301.984.6200.

The Council of State Governments Justice Center is a national nonprofit organization that serves policy makers at the local, state, and federal levels from all branches of government. It provides practical, nonpartisan advice and consensus-driven strategies—informed by available evidence—to increase public safety and strengthen communities.

www.justicecenter.csg.org

NAMI’s VP Speaks at Crisis Intervention Training

This past week the Richland Police Department began their first session of CIT training this year with a class of 25. NAMI Tri-Cities Vice President, Ray Morrison was appointed speaker during one session and shared his life story and the experience of how living with bipolar illness affected his life. It ended with a standing ovation from the audience. 
 
Having lived and survived through everything from homelessness, trauma, physical abuse, and incarceration, Ray has broken this cycle and turned and become a leader in advocating for consumers. His involvement and participation in our community has helped empower many of us to continue the work of fighting stigma, policy change, and preserving people’s rights.

We congratulate and extend our deepest appreciation to Ray for his involvement in supporting and speaking up for consumers.

Tri-City Herald: Richland Cops Get Tailored Training

Notice for Members Receiving E-Letter

In order to continue to keep you up-to-date on events, speakers, classes, trainings, and concerns we will need your current email address. As the time is nearing for NAMI Tri-Cities to transition from a paper copy of the newsletter to an electronic copy, please send your current email address to Ginger, lagriff12@clearwire.net or call 531-7217.