(May 8, 2017) Howard Husock, vice president for research and publications at the Manhattan Institute (MI), interviews DJ Jaffe, executive director of Mental Illness Policy Org, and Stephen Eide, senior fellow at the MI, about severe mental illness for its latest episode of the podcast, 10 Blocks.*
DJ frames the discussion with an overview of severe mental illness in the United States. With four percent of the population living with a serious and persistent mental illness, DJ says “it is these individuals who need help the most and also create consequences for the community. It is the most seriously mentally ill who wind up homeless, hospitalized, arrested, incarcerated and sometimes violent [when untreated].”
Stephen sharpens the focus, estimating that 25% of the adult homeless population in New York City are people with serious mental illness and total more than 10% of the inmate population at Rikers Island, the City’s mail jail complex – sometimes referred to as “the largest mental institution in New York State.” In addition, deinstitutionalization shifted “treatment” for some people with serious mental illness to the homeless and jail systems.
Enter Kendra’s Law. The model law provides assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) to the small percentage of the population who qualify – nearly 15,000 individuals since 1999. Evidence shows that AOT has been a critical lifeline for New Yorkers with severe mental illness. Specifically, recent data indicate it has “reduced the rate of hospitalization among those under court order by more than 60%, the rate of incarceration and homelessness by around 70%,” according to the MI.
For more information about the Empire State’s civil commitment laws and treatment options, see our New York page. To see how your state compares, visit our interactive map of the states.
* On the podcast:
- DJ Jaffe is the author of a new book, Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill
- Stephen Eidem author of the MI’s recent report, “Assisted Outpatient Treatment in New York State: The Case for Making Kendra’s Law Permanent”
- Howard Husock recounts the story of his schizophrenic great-uncle, who spent most of his 92 years in Ohio mental hospitals ("Decades in an Asylym Wasn't the Worst Fate," The Wall Street Journal, May 6, 2017).