Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 23, 1992 TAG: 9201230202
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT LEGALITIES FOCUS OF WORKSHOP
Committing people to a state mental hospital or to a local mental-health program involves a number of issues - not only for the increasing numbers who need help, but for the entire system that is trying to assist them."Legal Issues and Mental Health Treatment," a New River Valley Community Services Board workshop, will be held Friday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Landmark Building, 644 First St. in Radford.
The educational workshop will focus on the commitment process, from the emergency services that are available to a mentally disturbed person to the role that a commonwealth's attorney plays.
Deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill was set in motion by a federal act in the 1930s, said Beth Shumate, who organized the workshop. "Following deinstitutionalization . . . mentally ill people were guaranteed that they would no longer be hospitalized indefinitely," Shumate said. "The commitment process was initiated to assist them in getting help."
The Community Mental Health Centers Act was passed in 1963 to assure that people could not be committed against their will unless they proved to be a danger to themselves or to others or could not live independently.
Although it was an idea that some thought was long overdue, the new law still created dilemmas for the people who would have to make a commitment judgment.
For example, a mentally ill person is committed for a variety of reasons, such as when he or she talks about suicide or threatens family members with a gun. A person might call for help or a relative may call an emergency services organization, such as the local RAFT 24-hour crisis hotline.
"We have to decide if this person is just feeling bad or does that person have a gun in their hand?" said panelist Suzanne Bentley, an emergency services therapist with the community services board. "If a person overdosed, for instance, did he wake up saying he was angry at how stupid he was or did he say, `I thought I'd be dead?' "
A therapist, using information from doctors, nurses, family members and others, must determine whether to recommend that a person be committed, sometimes against a person's will. The only way to have someone committed against his will is by a legal order.
If the recommendation is for commitment, and it's against a person's will, there will be a commitment hearing. A special justice, appointed by a circuit court judge, will conduct the hearing, acting also as the attorney for the mentally ill person.
"The problem is that most people don't want to be committed," said panelist Helen Bishop, a Radford lawyer and special justice. "There is the emotional strain of hearing someone begging and pleading, `Please don't send me away!' when it might be in their best interests."
And most families also do not want to sign petitions, which are the requests for assistance. Judges make the commitments, not families, Bentley said, "but it is very hard for families and they don't want to sign anything."
The situation is equally difficult for sheriffs and magistrates. A magistrate will write a court order to initiate the process. A sheriff will execute the order, bring it to the person and then transport the person to an evaluation or a hearing.
Pulaski County Magistrate Barry Moore and Sheriff Ralph Dobbins will discuss their points of view, as will Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Curtis "Skip" Schwab, who handles appeals and prosecutes for commitment.
Sandra Harold, a Radford University social-work instructor, will give the background on institutionalization. "This is a cost-saving vs. civil-rights issue," Harold said of commitment. "And there are a lot of people who don't get mental health care who could benefit from it."
To register, call 552-5706 and leave your name and phone number for Beth Shumate.