CO HB22-1278 Could Be the FOUNDATION for Olmstead Compliance in BEHAVIORAL HEALTH that has been SORELY LACKING

• D.J. Jaffe who started the MENTAL ILLNESS POLICY ORGANIZATION was what I call a "CONSERVATIVE MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE"
  • He didn't see himself that way.
• BUT the Mental Illness Policy Organization and the Treatment Advocacy Center  along with assorted others mounted a fairly effective PUSH BACK against some of the EXCESSES of MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY up to that point.

 

• Although from my standpoint a lot of those "EXCESSES" were the result of:
  • a Mental Health System that wasn't very good
  • BUT did recognize that people on the HIGH END of the CONTINUUM of CARE tended to be MORE EXPENSIVE
    • NOT SURPRISINGLY, IGNORING THAT PROBLEM DIDN'T SOLVE IT.

 

• What the BAZELON  CENTER for MENTAL HEALTH LAW  and the NATIONAL DISABILITY RIGHTS NETWORK did (after a fashion) was address some of the concerns of the "CONSERVATIVES."
  • While STILL holding true to their values.

 

• One of the things that "CONSERVATIVES" like D.J. Jaffe ultimately did to move towards the "ACTIVISTS" were to champion things like SUPPORTIVE HOUSING and ASSERTIVE COMMUNITY TREATMENT.
  • Not just ASYLUMS.
  • Further, even though Jaffe may have been a believer in FORCED TREATMENT----
    • He also recognized that all the CIVIL COMMITMENT STATUTE AMENDMENTS lined up end to end weren't going to get you very far if you didn't have ---
      • RESOURCES.

 

• This "IDEA" of a COMPREHENSIVE CONTINUUM OF CARE or "BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SAFETY NET" seems so OBVIOUS ---
  • BUT it has taken awhile to get here.

 

• Further, some of the most effective MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATES have been VETERANS and COUNTY SHERIFFS.
  • Veterans have their own SYSTEM but some of the CHALLENGES are SIMILAR.
  • Further, Veterans with Cognitive Disabilities needing HOUSING are dependent on STATE & LOCAL AUTHORITIES to address that NEED to SCALE.

 

• HB22-1278 is a COLORADO BILL but
  • there are a lot of things in the BILL that other States, and
  • the FEDS

Should TAKE A LOOK AT.

• "CONSERVATIVE" MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATES have historically NOT been big champions of OLMSTEAD because they feared individuals would not get the LEVEL of CARE they needed----
  • BUT it seems to me that could CHANGE if there is BROAD COMMITMENT to a COMPREHENSIVE CONTINUUM OF CARE -- "BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SAFETY NET," and
  • A Commitment to HOUSING and WRAP-AROUND SERVICES to AVOID  UNNECESSARY INSTITUTIONALIZATION or RISK of INSTITUTIONALIZATION where indicated based on OBJECTIVE STANDARDS.

 OLMSTEAD is really geared to that HIGH NEED population that the "CONSERVATIVES" are concerned about.There is a lot more COMMON GROUND with regard to OLMSTEAD than we've realized.