Recent editorials from Kentucky newspapers:
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March 28
Lexington Herald-Leader on a mental health bill:
Lawmakers should override Gov. Matt Bevin’s veto of a bill allowing judges to order outpatient treatment for mental illness.
This humane option is available in almost every state and has long been sought by advocates for the mentally ill in Kentucky, including Kelly Gunning, whose adult son has bounced between psychiatric hospitals and jails. Despite her futile efforts to get him help - “we know when he is spiraling down” - he is in jail now. Under the delusion that his parents were conspiring against him, he violently assaulted them last year, using a rock as a weapon.
“Our son’s freedom was not protected - he’s in jail,” said Gunning, a leader of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Lexington and a supporter of Senate Bill 91, which lawmakers overwhelmingly approved only to be surprised by the veto.
Bevin’s veto explanation - that the law “would set a dangerous precedent that would threaten the liberty of Kentucky’s citizens” - is overwrought and wrong.
The narrowly drawn legislation would affect only a strictly-defined group of people who have severe mental illnesses. It would safeguard their liberty by helping them avoid jail and involuntary hospitalizations. A judge could order outpatient treatment only in cases in which someone:
? Has been diagnosed with a serious mental illness.
? Has been involuntarily hospitalized for mental illness twice in the last 12 months.
? Fails to recognize his or her own diagnosis and treatment needs.
? And when outpatient treatment is the least restrictive option.
In addition, a mental health professional would have to certify that the law’s requirements had been met. An extremely high bar, not, as Bevin seems to fear, a slippery slope to thought-police knocking down our doors.
In his veto message, Bevin notes that Kentucky already has laws for involuntarily committing those who are a threat to themselves or others. By then they have spiraled dangerously deep into their illness, but often receive only 72 hours of hospital care, never more than a few weeks.
SB 91 would allow intervention before people become dangerous and help them stay on their medication long enough to gain stability and clearer thinking. A family member, professional, law enforcement officer or friend could petition district court for a treatment order. The local mental health agency would prepare a treatment plan and monitor progress. Noncompliance could result in hospitalization.
The bill is dubbed “Tim’s Law” for the late Tim Morton of Lexington who had schizophrenia and was hauled away in handcuffs to Eastern State Hospital 37 times because his family and police had no other option.
The law would not be implemented until Kentucky secures funding, which should be easy. The 21st Century Cures Act, enacted by Congress last year, increased grants for assisted outpatient treatment programs “to help break the revolving door cycle” of jails, hospitals and homelessness.
Kentucky’s underfunded public defenders have protested that SB 91 would increase their already intolerable caseloads. Public defenders participate in involuntary hospitalization proceedings, therefore would know the clients in outpatient hearings. Their mental health caseloads would likely lighten if more Kentuckians could stay in their homes and receive timely treatment in their communities.
Lawmakers got this one right; they should override the veto.
Read more here: https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article141342993.html#storylink=cpy
Online:
https://www.kentucky.com/
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March 28
The Courier-Journal on Tim’s Law:
For five years, advocates of people with severe mental illness have fought for legislation in Kentucky designed to break the revolving cycle of hospitals, jails and homelessness.
This session, their effort paid off - almost.
Stunningly, Gov. Matt Bevin vetoed the legislation over concerns that it encroaches on individual civil liberties.
We urge legislators to override this veto.
Senate Bill 91, known as “Tim’s Law,” would allow a judge to order outpatient treatment for up to a year for some people unable to recognize the severity of their mental illness.
Credit Louisville Republicans Sen. Julie Raque Adams, who sponsored the bill, and Rep. Jason Nemes, for leading the effort. The bill passed strongly out of both chambers - 95-0 in the House and 34-3 in the Senate.
The legislation offers another option for judges, who already have the power to commit someone to a psychiatric hospital.
Legislators should stand behind their original support of the bill, which is named after Tim Morton, a Lexington man who died after years of hopelessly cycling through jails and hospitals.
Jail is no place for the mentally ill. People suffering from mental illness know this - their families know this, and the governor knows this.
Contact legislators toll-free 1-800-372-7181. ?Online:
https://www.courier-journal.com
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March 28
The Gleaner on reporting abuse:
Courier-Journal investigative reporter Andrew Wolfson had a simple question for Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad: “Greetings. I am trying to see if the department reported the allegations against Officers Betts or Woods to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Child Protective Services, as required by law.”
The question stems from Courier-Journal reporting about claims that former Louisville police Officer Kenneth Betts and current Officer Brandon Wood raped a teenage boy in the Youth Explorer program and that Betts had been investigated in 2013 over possible “improper contact” with a teenage girl in the program.
The only acceptable answer to Wolfson’s question should have been a simple yes.
Under Kentucky law, any person who knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a child has been abused is required to report it.
But the law allows such reports to be made to local police, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Kentucky State Police or a county or commonwealth’s attorney.
As uncovered by Courier-Journal reporters Phillip M. Bailey and Wolfson, the law doesn’t explicitly require a police department that learns of an abuse allegation against one of its own to report it to another authority specified in the law.
That must change.
A spokesman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the agency charged with protecting children, said the wording of the law suggests, but doesn’t mandate, that the agency be notified.
The law must be clear that suspected child abuse or child sexual abuse at the hands of police must be reported to the state. There can be no reports that slip through bureaucratic cracks or are hidden.
We urge the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to work with the Kentucky Legislature to clear up any ambiguity - the legislature returns for the final two days of this year’s session later this month.
In the meantime, we await Chief Conrad’s answer about what he knew and when.
Online:
https://www.thegleaner.com
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