Laws regarding mental health are done at the state level. Different states have different thresholds for being able to force someone into mental health treatment. For example, in Wisconsin (one of the states with the strictest laws protecting the individual rights of the mentally ill) it is very very difficult to force treatment for an adult that doesn't want it. I don't think there's anything in the federal health plans that overturns the states rights to govern this...at least not that I've heard about. So, you'll probably not see a sudden increase in treatment for the mentally ill that don't want treatment. What you may see is help for folks that have mental illnesses, want treatment, and can't currently afford it. But, the reality is that most of that population is probably not at the point of being a danger to society.
On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 6:44 AM, Cameron Childress wrote: > > I am curious - not because I am looking to start an argument over it > (though I am sure that will happen in about 2 more messages), but > because I am curious... > > In recent threads we talked about how many homeless were mentally ill. > I wonder how many of these folks, who are not getting help today, > would get help under Obama's plan? The most severe cases of mental > illness cause a real threat to public safety - getting the proper care > helps them and also helps the general public. > > I guess there is also the matter of forcing someone to get mental > health help they don't want. In my experience, those who are a real > threat to public safety DO NOT get long term help. I understand that > this is partly because in most cases an individual cannot be forced > into treatment, but is also partly because of lack of resources. > > -Cameron > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:307388 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
