(Jan. 25, 2013) Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation to close gaps in Kendra’s Law. The improvements - developed and first recommended by the Treatment Advocacy Center in 2010 - should lead to wider use, fewer premature lapses in court orders and more consistent enforcement of New York's “assisted outpatient treatment” (AOT) law.
With that victory behind us, we are now addressing an even bigger failure of New York’s mental health system: the unavailability of court-ordered inpatient treatment for people in desperate need of hospital care. That is the focus of an op-ed piece by Treatment Advocacy Center Policy Director Brian Stettin in this week's Daily News. We also hope to make reforming the state's inpatient commitment law a priority of its legislature this session.
The improvement in Kendra's Law is only one of many mental illness treatment law reforms we are working on as legislatures around the country convene for their 2013 sessions. In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, numerous states are taking a new look at their treatment laws and finding room for improvement.
YOU can help us achieve reforms!
- DONATE – We do not accept funding from companies or entities involved in the sale, marketing or distribution of pharmaceutical products. That makes individual donations essential to our success.
- LEARN more about the issues – Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, read our daily blogs and/or the weekly news roundups, use our website to familiarize yourself with topics like the dire shortage of public hospital beds and the criminalization of mental illness.
- BECOME an advocate – Help us shape and inform others by writing letters to the editor when mental illness issues are in your local news, sharing our Facebook posts, forwarding our news. You’ll find tools and tips for advocacy on our What You Can Do page.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers, please forward a link to the Daily News article to your state senator, assemblymember and Governor Cuomo. Be sure to identify yourself as a constituent and include your own personal story that illustrates why this reform is so important to you.
Please forward any replies you receive to us. It will help us identify potential allies in the New York legislature.
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