Legislation for the Mentally Ill
Having worked with the mentally ill homeless for over three years, I don’t understand how the Allen bill (“Bill Pushed to Hospitalize Mentally Ill for Longer Periods,” Metro, Nov. 28) addresses the problems involved in the treatment of this population.
The gravely disabled, mentally ill homeless client receives the lowest and last priority for hospitalization, so to extend the stay of those who manage to obtain hospitalization does nothing to improve the treatment of the homeless.
As stated in your article, there are few mental health hospital beds available, and limited after-care offered.
The present laws can be interpreted to assist the gravely disabled, yet most professionals in the mental health field and in the legal and political systems are still hoping and wishing that the problems of homeless in America will fade away and not need to be dealt with. Gov. Ronald Reagan started deinstitutionalism in California in the 1960s, and appropriately enough Reaganomics comes back to haunt us in the 1980s.
PAUL STEVEN JOSEPH, M.D.
Hollywood
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