The story about Sonny Iovino that I posted from the Gazette this morning produced a good question from reader John Neff who asked what would do about our homeless situation. John, since you asked (and I welcome your solutions too!):
I would have trained community advocates who would be called on by either the person in need or by service providers to act on behalf of the person when they were not capable of acting in their own best interest. Similar advocates work in the court system on behalf of children in domestic violence situations such as CASA. The city of Houston has a "Homeless Court" which specializes in addressing the needs of homeless persons who have minor offenses.
The movement to community mental health services has left a gaping hole for those who have no community supports. It seems apparent that a way to help persons with mental illness is to have community trained advocates to help them to find a safe place and to access services that they need when they are unable to care for themselves.
Iowa does not have well organized advocacy for the homeless, as compared to other states, as this directory from the National Coalition for the Homeless shows.
Additionally, we need to have shelter space that is available to those with mental illness and drug/alcohol dependencies. Without basic human services and access to treatment, there is no chance for a homeless person to become productive. This does not mean making a bigger jail. This means affording access to services for those that need them without rolls and rolls of red tape.
We need to close the hole in the safety net, that allows people like Sonny and others to perish.
2 comments:
Thanks for your well thought out and researched response to my comment. In theory we have a system for medical detention if the patient is an immediate and credible threat to their own safety. The problem is that "immediate" and "credible" involve judgement on the part of a licensed physician who then has to convince a judge or magistrate that they need to take action. From what has been reported about this case it was not obvious that the threat was immediate or credible.
We have have a system that protects the civil rights of persons who are at risk of serious harm. I think we should be able to come up with a better solution.
My impression is that the people of Johnson County do not want mentally ill people in jail and some progress has been made to remove them but we have a long way to go before that practice will end.
John,
Thanks for your kind comments. Ultimately these decisions are judgment calls. It seems to me that a doctor who takes the Hippocratic Oath to "Never to do deliberate harm to anyone for anyone else's interest" is, arguably, in a less tenable position than, say a law enforcement officer who has the letter of the law to fall back on.
I agree we can do better, and, as I have said, advocates may be part of the solution.
The fine line between protecting the life of a person and violating their civil rights is razor thin some times, but if we have to err, I would err on the side of protecting a life.
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