XPost: or.politics, alt.politics.republicans, talk.politics.guns
XPost: sac.politics

SALEM, Ore. � Oregon lawmakers are considering changes to the
state�s civil commitment laws � making forced mental health
treatment a more accessible option for people in crisis.

Advocates argue that changes are needed to get people help before
they're dangerous to themselves or others, while opponents fear
loosening state standards could be a slippery slope towards
institutionalism and overwhelm an Oregon mental health system
that's already in crisis.

KGW has covered personal stories, legal battles, changes in state
hospital priority, and calls for civil commitment and mental health
reform through its ongoing investigative series "Uncommitted."

For years, family members of people with severe mental illness,
like Kristen Benton, have called for change to get their loved ones
into treatment.

�The only option to get help (in Oregon) and have someone be in a
safe spot � to save your family and save them � is to be in jail,"
Benton told KGW in a 2023 interview.

Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton, among others, has
said that Oregon�s strict standards for civil commitment have
effectively criminalized severe mental illness.

�The process waits for a crime to occur and the criminal justice
system has to step in as a system of last resort, and that is often
the only pathway someone has toward some level of mental health
treatment," Barton said. "That is an absurd way of approaching this
issue."

Governor Tina Kotek, in her state of the state address in January,
named civil commitment reform as one of her priorities.

�Why is it OK that we watch very ill people harm themselves because
we are unwilling or unable to get them the health care they so
desperately need," Kotek said.

A proposed bill would redefine "dangerousness" � allowing a judge
to consider a person�s past behavior and the risk of danger to
themselves or others "in the near future" when considering a civil
commitment.

The House Committee on Behavioral Health and Health Care held a
public hearing on the bill on April 3. A work session is scheduled
for April 8.

Forced treatment is rare. Beyond Oregon's shift away from civil
commitments and toward criminal "aid and assist" cases, there's a
high legal standard for involuntary health care.

Leaders with Disability Rights Oregon told KGW that�s for good
reason, as a civil commitment takes away a person�s right to make
their own health care choices.

DRO deputy legal director Tom Stenson agrees that Oregon�s mental
health system is broken, but he says expanding community treatment
options needs to be the state's first priority.

"Everybody wants a fix that can happen tomorrow that's very simple,
and it feels like involuntary treatment is the answer," Stenson
said. "But the reality is that we need to build out our voluntary
treatment."

Emily Cooper, DRO's legal director, said her organization isn't
categorically opposed to involuntary treatment, but she argues that
lowering the bar wouldn't be needed if people with severe mental
illness had treatment options earlier.

"People should be able to get care in their own home and they
shouldn't have to wait until they're locked up or sent away to the
state hospital, sometimes hundreds of miles from where they live,"
Cooper said.

Chris Bouneff, executive director of NAMI Oregon who is leading the
charge for civil commitment reform, believes in investing in
community treatment as well. He is quick to point out that any
change to forced treatment standards must be met with investment in
community treatment options and hospital beds.

As things stand, the limited capacity in Oregon's secure
psychiatric care system is a significant barrier to expanding civil
commitment. The Oregon State Hospital labors under a series of
separate and at times competing court orders, requiring that
criminal aid and assist patients be admitted in a timely manner,
that those patients be discharged more quickly regardless of
competency, and that counties receive a 60-day notice before a
patient is discharged.

READ MORE: Court rulings demand Oregon State Hospital toe the line
between patients' rights and public safety

Lawmakers are considering other bills that address those areas, and
Governor Kotek's proposed budget calls for $90 million for 363
treatment beds and $50 million for workforce investments.

However, Bouneff said it's exceedingly clear to him and many others
that Oregon needs civil commitment reform for the most severe
cases, adding that there's a broad consensus to do something.

"It�s ridiculous that all of us might look at somebody and say it�s
time to intervene here, and we can�t, so we have to solve that
problem," he said.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)