TREATMENT FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST: BAKER ACT BRINGS HELP, HOPE TO FLORIDA�S UNTREATED MENTALLY IL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) June 30, 2004 -- Gov. Jeb Bush today signed the Florida Sheriffs Association�s legislation to reform The Baker Act. The law will allow court-ordered outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illnesses, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, who have a history of noncompliance combined with either repeated Baker Act admissions or serious violence. Cosponsored by Representative David Simmons, Senator Durell Peaden, and Senator Rod Smith, the legislation becomes effective January 1, 2005.

Before passage of this law, Florida was one of only nine states that did not allow court-ordered outpatient treatment for people with untreated severe mental illnesses who did not voluntarily accept treatment � inpatient commitment was the only choice. �Court-ordered outpatient treatment is a less restrictive, less expensive treatment alternative for people who need intervention but do not require inpatient hospitalization,� said Treatment Advocacy Center Executive Director Mary T. Zdanowicz.

Recent statistics on the first three years of New York state�s similar law revealed that for people placed in court-ordered outpatient treatment, 63 percent fewer were hospitalized, 55 percent fewer experienced homelessness, 75 percent fewer were arrested, and 69 percent fewer were incarcerated.

In 2002, one person was Baker-Acted 41 times, at a cost of approximately $81,000 � not including court costs, law enforcement resources, or short-term treatment..

Seminole County Sheriff Donald Eslinger has witnessed how lack of treatment drains resources from law enforcement. �Law enforcement officers are not mental health professionals and yet our deputies are increasingly responding to crises involving people who need mental health treatment,� he said. �This legislation will no doubt enhance mental health intervention and treatment services that will ultimately result in improved public safety for our communities.�

Oftentimes the unwillingness to stay in treatment is due not to denial or stubbornness, but to lack of insight. �Anosognosia, the neurological term for lack of awareness of illness, is the single largest reason why individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder do not take their medications,� said E. Fuller Torrey, MD, president of the Treatment Advocacy Center.

This focus on the improved quality of life for consumers with untreated mental illnesses is an important point to everyone involved in passing this legislation, especially treatment providers. �Assisted treatment provides for early intervention to prevent a crisis, and, better still, empowers people with mental illnesses to take control of their symptoms and their lives,� explains Wayne Dreggors, President of Act Corporation and Chair of the Florida Council for Community Mental Health. �Having that legal avenue available in Florida can only serve the good of the people we serve, their families, and the community.�

The Treatment Advocacy Center (www.psychlaws.org) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to timely and humane treatment for millions of Americans with severe mental illnesses. For more on the Baker Act reform effort, visit www.bakeractreform.org.