Involuntary commitment laws based on need for help

I read an article today that appeared in the BN Village, Mentally ill man dies a lonely death on L.A.'s streets . Another very sad, tragic, preventable event occurred in California because someone, Troy Green, who was in desperate need of treatment for his mental illness, did not receive help.

As stated in the article, "Across the country, Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide Det. Robert Harris was also not surprised when he learned the details of his newest case. He said he has seen similar cases again and again: mentally ill people, adrift in gang-populated neighborhoods, falling victim to homicide."

A friend of mine has been trying desperately to keep her daughter safe and able to receive consistent treatment. But, each time her daughter is released from a short stay in a hospital (and one time from a jail), her daughter wanders off and puts herself in a precarious situation that could potentially cause her harm. My friend doesn't want to see her daughter, who has a mental illness and wanders off and sleeps in parks at night, become one of the homeless statistics. But the mental health system only responds when she is a "clear and present danger to herself or someone else." A history of an individuals repeated hospitalizations and/or incarcerations is not considered if it is beyond the previous 30 days for an involuntary commitment.

The next time you see someone who is living on the streets, remember that they may have had a family that tried to get them help but that our mental health system didn't provide that assistance, because, by our outdated treatment laws, they weren't required to help.

Troy Green's sister, Lillian Green, "condemns a system that she said left her with few options to keep her brother safe." She further states, "she understands involuntary commitment laws. But, she says, "It shouldn't be that way. It should be based on whether they need help."

We need to change our commitment laws in all of our states to ones that provide timely help for those with severe mental illnesses who are not able to ask for that help themselves. A decent society would do no less.