States Examining Involuntary Commitment Laws

In a 2,300-word piece, Gate House Media (5/17, Pierce) reported, “A mentally ill person can be forced to undergo diagnosis and treatment under certain conditions laid out in state involuntary commitment laws, and some states are examining those laws in an effort to prevent tragedies.” The majority of “states with proactive involuntary outpatient commitment laws require a history of past noncompliance with treatment, coupled with past hospitalizations and arrests, before a person can be forced into treatment.”

It is now estimated that “up to one in five inmates in jail and state prisons are mentally ill, according to separate reports by the US Justice Department and American Psychiatric Association.”

Related Links:

— “Focus: Safety concerns prompt states to revisit involuntary commitment laws that address mentally ill,” David Pierce, GateHouse Media, May 17, 2014.

Posted in In The News.