Dear Mr. Schworm,
Regarding your article in The Boston Globe; Shooting renews debate about public housing; Aug. 14, 2011: I strongly agree with the statement from your article:
‘Mental health advocates said the housing debate misses a broader point: that those with severe psychiatric disorders need personal care to live independently.
“No matter what the housing situation, they need to have wraparound services to manage the illness,’’ said Lynda Cutrell of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “There have to be eyes on the individual.’’I agree with your article that it could have saved Kelly Thomas’ life. If Kelly Thomas would have been able to get treatment when his family first tried to get it for him, he would not have been on that bench that fateful night and would still be alive today. ‘
I also agree with Kristina M. Ragosta article on this event in boston.com, It's untreated mental illness that leads to tragedies; Aug. 20, 2011 where she states:
‘The fact that people with untreated mental illness are more violent than the general population - both to others and to themselves - is well established, but continually ignored by Massachusetts lawmakers. The most urgent lesson of the tragic shooting of 75-year-old William Thomas allegedly by a fellow public housing resident with a history of mental illness is not that those with mental illness should be housed separately, but that they should receive needed treatment to avoid being a danger to themselves or others.
Representative Kay Kahn has championed legislation to address this. Massachusetts should support her efforts to create a court-ordered treatment law that would make it possible for individuals too ill to seek care for themselves to receive the help they need - before tragedies occur. Disregarding or misrepresenting the link between nontreatment and violence is a disservice that protects nobody.’
My son has schizophrenia and is with us today due to compliance to treatment. Without treatment, my son would and has been violent due to command hallucinations and the belief that humans have been replaced by aliens. Now he is stable on the right treatment and he is non-combative, gentle, loving, compassionate, helpful, and can, once again, reason logically.
With severe mental illness, time is brain. That is one of the major reasons we need to implement legislation that would implement a court-ordered treatment law. So that by early intervention we can save the brain cells that are needed for a recovery. Along with continued wrap=around services that support of that individual's recovery.
Please do all you can by publishing articles in support of assisted out-patient treatment now. You can contact Kristina M. Ragosta, Legislative and Policy Counsel for the Treatment Advocacy Center in Arlington, VA. Or go to http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org and learn how this works and why it helps before another avoidable tragedy takes place!
Sincerely,
Deborah Fabos
23401 Park Sorrento #54
Calabasas, CA. 91302
vida_5150@hotmail.com
Sunday, August 21, 2011
'It's untreated mental illness that leads to tragedies' by Kristina M. Ragosta from boston.com, Aug. 20, 2011
Here is the article from Kristina M. Ragosta, Legislative and Policy Counsel of Treatment Advocacy Center in Arlington, VA.
'It's untreated mental illness that leads to tragedies' in the boston.com, Aug. 20, 2011
Kristina writes on Mr. Peter Schworm's article given below, 'Sooting renews debate about public housing' from The Boston Globe, Aug. 14, 2011.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2011/08/20/its_untreated_mental_illness_that_leads_to_tragedies/?fb_ref=art&fb_source=profile_oneline
'It's untreated mental illness that leads to tragedies' in the boston.com, Aug. 20, 2011
Kristina writes on Mr. Peter Schworm's article given below, 'Sooting renews debate about public housing' from The Boston Globe, Aug. 14, 2011.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2011/08/20/its_untreated_mental_illness_that_leads_to_tragedies/?fb_ref=art&fb_source=profile_oneline
Shooting renews debate about public housing by Peter Schworm from The Boston Globe Aug. 14, 2011
Here is the original story from The Boston Globe by Mr. Peter Schworm
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/08/14/brighton_shooting_renews_debate_about_public_housing/
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/08/14/brighton_shooting_renews_debate_about_public_housing/
Monday, August 15, 2011
For Orange County Residents
Ron Thomas supports Laura's Law and admits that it could have helped his son Kelly Thomas. The mental health system failed Kelly.
Show your support, once again, by going to this link and signing the petition for O.C. Board of Supervisors to implement Laura's Law today! It doesn't take much time and it can make such a big impact for the future!
Thank you in advance for your continued support of Kelly Thomas and for your time in this matter.
http://www.lauraslawoc.org
Show your support, once again, by going to this link and signing the petition for O.C. Board of Supervisors to implement Laura's Law today! It doesn't take much time and it can make such a big impact for the future!
Thank you in advance for your continued support of Kelly Thomas and for your time in this matter.
http://www.lauraslawoc.org
Sample Letter to Abby Sewell at the LA Times
Please feel free to use this letter as a template for your own letter to Abby Sewell or to any other reporter's article on Laura's Law. Remember to delete my personal information and comments in order to add your own. You can e-mail it to:
Abby.Sewell@latimes.com
Thank you to all who help by making the importance of implementation of Laura's Law known!
August 15, 2011
Ms. Abby Sewell
The Los Angeles Times
202 W. 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA. 90012
Dear Ms. Sewell,
Regarding your article: Fullerton death focuses attention on mental health, on 08/10/2011; you wrote:
‘In the wake of the death of a schizophrenic man in Fullerton after a violent altercation with police, Orange County supervisors took an initial step Tuesday toward implementing a state law that would allow people with severe mental illness to be placed in court-mandated outpatient treatment.’
I agree with your article that it could have saved Kelly Thomas’ life. If Kelly Thomas would have been able to get treatment when his family first tried to get it for him, he would not have been on that bench that fateful night and would still be alive today.
Laura’s Law is needed statewide! Please write an article to support implementation and funding for Laura's Law in California!
My son has schizophrenia and is with us today due to compliance to treatment. Without treatment, my son would have been very much like Kelly Thomas living on the streets. Or, he would have been like the missing young man from the San Fernando Valley, Shawn Tischler, who’s family still has no word on where he is or if he is even alive today. There are so many more stories like these! All avoidable!
With severe mental illness, time is brain. That is one of the major reasons we need to implement Laura’s Law now! Laura’s Law will save lives! Please help us!
Sincerely,
Deborah Fabos
23401 Park Sorrento #54
Calabasas, CA. 91302
vida_5150@hotmail.com
Abby.Sewell@latimes.com
Thank you to all who help by making the importance of implementation of Laura's Law known!
August 15, 2011
Ms. Abby Sewell
The Los Angeles Times
202 W. 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA. 90012
Dear Ms. Sewell,
Regarding your article: Fullerton death focuses attention on mental health, on 08/10/2011; you wrote:
‘In the wake of the death of a schizophrenic man in Fullerton after a violent altercation with police, Orange County supervisors took an initial step Tuesday toward implementing a state law that would allow people with severe mental illness to be placed in court-mandated outpatient treatment.’
I agree with your article that it could have saved Kelly Thomas’ life. If Kelly Thomas would have been able to get treatment when his family first tried to get it for him, he would not have been on that bench that fateful night and would still be alive today.
Laura’s Law is needed statewide! Please write an article to support implementation and funding for Laura's Law in California!
My son has schizophrenia and is with us today due to compliance to treatment. Without treatment, my son would have been very much like Kelly Thomas living on the streets. Or, he would have been like the missing young man from the San Fernando Valley, Shawn Tischler, who’s family still has no word on where he is or if he is even alive today. There are so many more stories like these! All avoidable!
With severe mental illness, time is brain. That is one of the major reasons we need to implement Laura’s Law now! Laura’s Law will save lives! Please help us!
Sincerely,
Deborah Fabos
23401 Park Sorrento #54
Calabasas, CA. 91302
vida_5150@hotmail.com
From NAMI/Sacramento
Laura's Law
AB 1421 was signed into state law in 2002 and became effective January 1, 2003. Known as Laura's Law, this statute allows court-ordered, intensive outpatient treatment for a small population of individuals who revolve in and out of jails, hospitals and homelessness. Typically, these individuals are too paranoid, too disabled, too sick or too insight-impaired to realize they are sick and engage in treatment. Laura's Law is named after a 19-year-old woman working at a Nevada County mental health clinic who was shot to death by a delusional patient who was not receiving the help he needed because he resisted treatment.
The treatment, called Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), provides a tool that ensures continuity of care for some of the most difficult-to-treat people, who are traditionally neglected in favor of consumers who want treatment. This neglect is seen as a form of discrimination against people with the most severe illnesses. AOT allows intervention before an individual commits a crime that triggers an involuntary hospitalization or arrest, providing an alternative to hospitalization and incarceration.
The current law governing commitment, called the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act, provides only for inpatient commitment and stipulates that individuals can be involuntarily hospitalized only if they pose an immediate danger to themselves or others or are judged by the court to be "gravely disabled," a legal term meaning they do not have the ability to care for themselves. The law gives physicians a 72-hour hold period to evaluate them in a locked facility and begin treatment. But this often results in a revolving door of recovery and relapse as no continued care is provided. In Sacramento County, 75% of the people with mental illness in our county jail have been in the County Mental Health Treatment Center before.
Laura's Law is patterned after New York's Kendra's Law, which showed impressive results after five years. AOT significantly reduced the severest consequences for participants who formerly had rejected treatment.
74% fewer people experienced homelessness
77% fewer experienced psychiatric hospitalization
83% fewer experienced arrest
87% fewer experienced incarceration
55% fewer attempted suicide or self-harm
49% fewer abused alcohol
48% fewer abused drugs
47% fewer physicall harmed others
43% fewer threatened other with physical harm
46% fewer damaged or destroyed property
The state law does not mandate California counties to adopt Laura's Law, so each county can elect whether or not to adopt it. This decision will be made by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors by early December. There is an urgent need for advocates to contact the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.
For more information about Laura's Law, see the Treatment Advocacy Center.
http://www.namisacramento.org/advocacy/lauras_law.html
AB 1421 was signed into state law in 2002 and became effective January 1, 2003. Known as Laura's Law, this statute allows court-ordered, intensive outpatient treatment for a small population of individuals who revolve in and out of jails, hospitals and homelessness. Typically, these individuals are too paranoid, too disabled, too sick or too insight-impaired to realize they are sick and engage in treatment. Laura's Law is named after a 19-year-old woman working at a Nevada County mental health clinic who was shot to death by a delusional patient who was not receiving the help he needed because he resisted treatment.
The treatment, called Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), provides a tool that ensures continuity of care for some of the most difficult-to-treat people, who are traditionally neglected in favor of consumers who want treatment. This neglect is seen as a form of discrimination against people with the most severe illnesses. AOT allows intervention before an individual commits a crime that triggers an involuntary hospitalization or arrest, providing an alternative to hospitalization and incarceration.
The current law governing commitment, called the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act, provides only for inpatient commitment and stipulates that individuals can be involuntarily hospitalized only if they pose an immediate danger to themselves or others or are judged by the court to be "gravely disabled," a legal term meaning they do not have the ability to care for themselves. The law gives physicians a 72-hour hold period to evaluate them in a locked facility and begin treatment. But this often results in a revolving door of recovery and relapse as no continued care is provided. In Sacramento County, 75% of the people with mental illness in our county jail have been in the County Mental Health Treatment Center before.
Laura's Law is patterned after New York's Kendra's Law, which showed impressive results after five years. AOT significantly reduced the severest consequences for participants who formerly had rejected treatment.
74% fewer people experienced homelessness
77% fewer experienced psychiatric hospitalization
83% fewer experienced arrest
87% fewer experienced incarceration
55% fewer attempted suicide or self-harm
49% fewer abused alcohol
48% fewer abused drugs
47% fewer physicall harmed others
43% fewer threatened other with physical harm
46% fewer damaged or destroyed property
The state law does not mandate California counties to adopt Laura's Law, so each county can elect whether or not to adopt it. This decision will be made by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors by early December. There is an urgent need for advocates to contact the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.
For more information about Laura's Law, see the Treatment Advocacy Center.
http://www.namisacramento.org/advocacy/lauras_law.html
Thursday, August 11, 2011
E-mails to Orange County Board of Supervisors
A note on e-mails to the Orange County Board of Supervisors:
You can send them an e-mail by putting their name with a period in-between their first and last name and adding @ocgov.com at the end. Example: Bill.Campbell@ocgov.com. Just cut and paste the sample letter given below, add some specifics about the Kelly Thomas case, and send.
Our voices can make the difference!
It takes about 15-20 min. to send e-mail to all the O.C. Board of Supervisors.
You can send them an e-mail by putting their name with a period in-between their first and last name and adding @ocgov.com at the end. Example: Bill.Campbell@ocgov.com. Just cut and paste the sample letter given below, add some specifics about the Kelly Thomas case, and send.
Our voices can make the difference!
It takes about 15-20 min. to send e-mail to all the O.C. Board of Supervisors.
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