Letters to the Editor: Easier detention is the wrong solution to mental health care
To the editor: In your article on a state bill to make it easier to detain seriously mentally ill people in California, Dr. Margot Kushel’s quote about the bigger problem being the lack of mental health resources is spot on.
SB 43 author Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman’s (D-Stockton) energy would be better spent on increasing state funding for mental health care. The for-profit system we have encourages hospitals to release patients from holds early and fails to give mental health professionals the time to treat people. We need more robust funding for treatment and services to address this.
Eggman’s suggestion that redefining “grave disability” would not affect the procedural rights of Californians in conservatorship hearings is nonsensical. The definition is the main element in jury instructions for conservatorships.
Dr. Kushel and those on the ground fighting for more resources are understandably skeptical of this approach. Making it easier to detain people doesn’t improve patient care or outcomes, which should be the focus.
We don’t need more judges and attorneys being paid to process these cases. We need full funding for mental health care with early screening and support for patients and families.
Karl Fenske, Los Angeles
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To the editor: SB 43 might actually help. Making it easier to detain mentally ill people is a difficult issue, but I support this effort.
Back in the 1970s, I taught adult education in Pomona. I led exercise classes for mentally ill adults at two facilities, one locked and the other unlocked, meaning the residents were able to come and go with restrictions. I was impressed with the amount of services provided.
I moved away in 1979. Now back in California, I have seen that these facilities are closed.
Today the homeless population has exploded. As a cyclist, I ride the San Gabriel River path and see the effects of mental illness.
It was refreshing to read of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan for a “$3-billion bond measure for the construction of mental health campuses, residences and permanent supportive housing.” I hope this comes to fruition.
Mary Nowak, Long Beach
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To the editor: Take if from me, whose severely mentally ill sister lived and died on the streets.
As a society, we take better care of dogs than we do people with mental illness. There are leash laws, rules for rabies vaccinations and thousands of shelters and rescue groups trying to find them safe, loving homes.
Shame on us.
Laura Morgan, South Pasadena
