Letters to the Editor: A permanent, safe facility is best for some with severe mental illness
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To the editor: Guest contributor Clemens Hong states, “Many people stabilize with housing and treatment” (”Keeping mentally ill Angelenos in jail doesn’t help anyone,” Aug. 13).
Many, but not all.
No mention is made of the thousands of people who are so irretrievably broken that there is no hope for them in this world. For such people, a permanent, safe facility that treats them with compassion and dignity is imperative and should be available in any civilized and caring society.
We had such a facility in Camarillo State Hospital: a permanent, long-term facility that operated for more than 60 years before closing in 1997 due to economic challenges, as well as new directions in psychiatric trends that have largely proven futile.
SB 1373 may lead to more mentally ill people ending up in jail; however, many loved ones of these people will get a rare good night’s sleep knowing that they are off the streets and at least safe and fed. No small thing.
Elizabeth Alexander, Ojai
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To the editor: Pushing tough-on-crime measures reliably benefits ambitious politicians but, particularly as it relates to the intersection of mental illness and criminal justice, is failed public policy. AB 46 and the proposed SB 1373 ignore decades of learned experience establishing that providing treatment to incarcerated mentally ill individuals is less expensive, more humane and serves public safety.
Mitch Bruckner, Newhall
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To the editor: Thank you to Hong for his op-ed piece on recent and pending legislation that present new obstacles to diversion. I hope legislators read this piece and heed his insight that cycling the mentally ill through the jail system does not help anyone.
I would also emphasize that this approach increases the risk of harm to everyone and wastes precious funding that is better invested in treatment. Diversion programs are not perfect, but creating obstacles to them and increasing incarceration in jails that are not equipped to treat the mentally ill is simply a worse course. It fails to provide a solution for treating the mental illness that is the source of much criminal conduct.
Perhaps the legislators who support this counterproductive legislation should visit the jails and observe how the mentally ill are treated — or rather, not treated. Making an informed decision may lead to legislation that actually promotes societal safety.
Terry Shenkman, Culver City
