Misblog

Originally Published September 08, 2009; Last Updated March 01, 2010; Last Republished March 01, 2010:

District Court Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis has issued an enormously important ruling requiring New York to propose a plan to better integrate some (4,300) of its currently segregated mentally ill residents. "As set forth below [1.6M pdf], DAI [Disability Advocates Inc.] has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that Defendants have discriminated against DAI’s constituents by reason of their disability."--Judge Garaufis-- Hopefully, the New Times will increase its reporting on mental illness and how we treat our mentally ill citizens1.

Judge Garaufis

We have a loooooooooooong way to go before we've accomplished full integration—our understanding of mental illness has not progress sufficiently² to enable full integration without continuous litigation.

Unfortunately, the services of Disability Advocates Inc. and others will be required into the foreseeable future to ensure our mentally ill citizens are fully integrated into society.

Web:

• UPDATED 03/01/2010 FindLaw, Judge Orders NYC: Get 4,500+ Special Housing Units for Mentally Ill in 3 Years.
• UPDATED 08/27/2009 NYT, State Discriminated Against Mentally Ill, Judge Rules.

-----notes-----

1. Too often they are exploited as little more than cash cow opportunities to harmful affect and effect.

For a recent September 06, 2009 report see UPI, Cops: Group home residents lived in filth

"...22 elderly and mentally ill people living at the facility [in San Bernardino, California] were fenced in by razor wire, lived in converted chicken coops, had no plumbing and were forced to use buckets for toilets, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday."--UPI--

2. Progress has been made since the Nurse Ratched days, but not much.

Researchers have begun searching biology for first order understandings, psychiatrists and psychologists are improving "talk therapy", and pharmacology is developing some drugs to mask or minimize the symptoms and manifestations of mental illness.

Our laws have decriminalized mental illness, provide some protections, and begun to require the integration of our mentally ill into society.