The places most troubled by this, New York City and California, are trying to find an answer. Both have enacted policies aimed at people who are homeless and suffering from a psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia. Yet they differ in important ways. Last month Eric Adams, the Democratic mayor of New York City, instructed police and first responders to hospitalise people with severe mental illness who are incapable of looking after themselves. Mr Adams\u2019s plan is a reinterpretation of existing rules. Law-enforcement and outreach workers can already remove people from public places if they present a danger to themselves or others. But now, the mayor stressed, people can be hospitalised if they seem merely unable to care for themselves. \u201cIt is not acceptable for us to see someone who clearly needs help and walk past them,\u201d Mr Adams proclaimed.<\/p>\n
The mayor\u2019s plan follows a policy change on the opposite coast. At the urging of Gavin Newsom, California\u2019s Democratic governor, the state legislature passed the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (care) Act in September , creating a new civil-court system aimed at directing the mentally ill and homeless to treatment and housing. Patients can be referred to care court by police, outreach workers, doctors or family members, among others.<\/p>\n
Acceptance into the system means court-ordered treatment for up to two years, after which patients can \u201cgraduate\u201d or, potentially, be subjected to more restrictive care, such as a conservatorship. California has been quick to try to distance care court from New York\u2019s apparently more punitive response. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit like apples and giraffes,\u201d says Jason Elliott, Mr Newsom\u2019s deputy chief of staff. \u201cWe\u2019re both trying to solve the same problem, but with very different tools at our disposal, and also really different realities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n What is the most humane way to help unsheltered people suffering from severe mental illness? New policies in NYC and California revive an old debate. — Aryn Braun (@arynbraun) December 20, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n
A bicoastal take from me and @Rosemarie_Ward<\/a>: https:\/\/t.co\/tgYISlQNUP<\/a><\/p>\n