It is always about the medicine, isn't it.
It took Cincinnati Police just over 24-hours to apprehend a suspect in Tuesday's fatal stabbing of 93-year-old Ida Martin of Roselawn.
When James House, III was finally in custody Wednesday night, detectives realized it wasn't the first time their paths had crossed.
What emerged from court records stirred angry emotions from people from Roselawn to Golf Manor.
House was arrested in 1998 for allegedly stabbing three different Roselawn women. Only one case made it to trial, but House was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He spent 10 years in treatment and was released in 2008.
In the Martin case, House is charged with murder. His bond was set at $1 million Thursday in Hamilton County Municipal Court.
Martin was stabbed four times while on her daily walk her her Summit Road apartment. Police said the trail led to House because of good investigative work, information from witnesses and evidence gathered at the scene. A steak knife was among the items recovered.
After leaving Summit Behavioral Center last year, House moved into a second floor apartment in the 2400 block of Losantiville Road in Golf Manor.
Neighbor Joe Dunham said House acted strangely and was a loner who didn't interact with anyone.
"You'd see him once or twice a week," Dunham stated. "You'd say 'How you doing?' He'd just keep walking with his headphones on -- like he had tunnel vision."
Cincinnati Police needed the assistance of officers from Golf Manor and the Hamilton County SWAT team to take House into custody Wednesday night.
"The guy wouldn't come out," said Dunham. "I let them know I seen him moving upstairs -- heard some footsteps -- that he was there."
Dunham said he was terrified to learn of House's prior criminal record and history of mental illness. That's because Dunham's mother lives with him.
"I was thinking about my mother. What would have happened if I wasn't there," he reflected. "Thinking about my neighbors. They're both ladies in an elderly fashion."
Attorney Peter Rosenwald represented House in 1998 and said when he was taking his required medicines he was a cooperative client.
"Most people with mental illness are never cured," Rosenwald added. "They're treated. It's controlled through medicine and therapy."
People might wonder why House was released back into the community. Rosenwald said under the law the maximum time he could be kept in treatment was 10 years -- the same sentence he could have gotten for attempted murder.
Asked why his former client might have committed another serious crime, Rosenwald said he could only speculate.
"My thinking is he probably was not taking his meds," he theorized. "I think the mental illness came back on him."
Roselawn community leaders questioned how House could have been judged mentally healthy enough to return to the population at-large.
"Justice will be served -- this time," said Minister Nate Mobley of the Powerhouse Deliverance Center Ministries. "I think it should have been closely looked at the first time.."
"We were just shocked and amazed that it was the same person who had some clinical treatment," said Michael Watson of the Roselawn Community Council. "Evidently, it didn't work."
However, Watson refused to blame the system for House's release. His bigger worry is people in the community stepping up to help stop crime.
"All I can be concerned about is people who saw it happen and didn't do anything. People who saw it happen and didn't say anything. People who had their windows open and closed their window," he said.
Both Watson and Mobley said a crime like Martin's death could happen in any neighborhood.
"We don't want to be looked at or viewed as a place that's not a good place to reside," Mobley pleaded.
Martin's family issued a statement Thursday which read, in part, "Our family is truly appreciative of the Roselawn community and all those who assisted in the quick arrest of Ida Martin's alleged assailant. This is now in the hands of the justice system. Our family will continue to cope with the loss by by honoring and cherishing the loving memories of Ida."
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
Another Lost Soul
This poor mentally ill man has been in solitary confinement for years. Who would ever think that solitary confinement would ever be a treatment for severe mental illness? I do not have a mental illness, but I am sure I would create one if you placed me in solitary confinement for years. Where is it stated in the medical journals that confinement is a possible plan for treatment? I still want to blame the liberal laws on this one as well. Why was this man not getting and/or accepting medical treatment before his illness got so severe that all they knew to do or wanted to do with him was arrest and confine? I know that his is not the only story of mentally ill in our prison system. Obama can go after that, in my opinion, rather than some of the other things he has on his agenda.
Critics: Tamms has harmed man's mental condition
Will Tamms supermax prison inmate Donnie White be among the inmates considered for possible transfer after spending years in solitary confinement? That may depend on how corrections officials view his mental state.
Critics believe the strict discipline and isolation White has undergone at the Tamms Correctional Center for the past seven years may have made his severe mental illness, diagnosed in prison a decade ago, worse.
But mental health professionals at Tamms concluded last year that White, 35, no longer is mentally ill and deserves the punishment he's receiving for continued bizarre behavior, ranging from suicide attempts to setting himself on fire.
In September, Illinois Department of Corrections Director Michael Randle released a 10-point plan to reform conditions at Tamms, the state's only supermax prison. Among those reforms: 45 of the prison's 250 inmates are eligible for review to determine whether they should be moved out of Tamms.
It's not clear whether White will be one of them.
"Donnie White should never have been sent there in the first place, and now he has suffered years of sustained, unrelenting trauma as a result," said Laurie Jo Reynolds, a member of the Chicago-based Tamms Year Ten Committee that has advocated for reforms at Tamms. "Prisoners like him need protection from the (Department of Corrections), not the other way around.
"If there is any real commitment to reform, we expect Donnie White to be transferred immediately," she said.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith said federal medical privacy laws prevented her from making any comment about White's case. It's not clear what guidelines were used to determine whether an inmate is eligible for review and transfer.
Randle put the number of seriously mentally ill inmates at Tamms at 15, or 6 percent. A 2006 U.S. Department of Justice report of state prisons surveyed nationally put the figure at 15 to 23 percent.
White may be unique, though, among inmates at Tamms who have extensive histories of severe mental illness.
Prison medical records obtained by the Belleville News-Democrat show an unusual progression: White went from being "acutely mentally ill" in 1998 to not being mentally ill in 2008. During the 10-year interval, he was given powerful psychotropic medications, sometimes forcibly administered, intensive therapy and an emergency transfer for a few months to the prison system's Dixon Psychiatric Unit.
But in 2003, when prison officials sent him to Tamms after he had 15 years added to his original sentence for in-prison convictions -- throwing urine and feces at guards at another prison -- a Corrections Department psychologist wrote that the years of therapy and drugs did nothing to help White.
The evaluation stated, "Behaviors exhibited by Mr. White include setting fire to self ... attempting to hang self with numerous items, smearing feces on self and cell, banging fist on floors, stomping on hand and other self-injurious behaviors."
The evaluation reported that White still exhibited symptoms of serious mental illness.
He then was sent to Tamms, where he has been in solitary confinement for nearly seven years.
Although his suicide attempts and self-mutilation continued and medications didn't work, an April 10, 2008, mental evaluation of White stated, "Inmate White does not suffer from mental illness." It concluded that White engaged in "antics" and "appears to view staff, especially female mental health providers, as a vehicle for his own entertainment."
Randle has defended the practice of treatment seriously mentally ill prisoners at Tamms, which features solitary confinement as a mainstay.
Holley McCree, who has a master's degree in social work and counsels mentally ill patients in Minnesota, has corresponded with White for more than five years. She said that while she cannot make a professional diagnosis without examining White, she said that from his letters and medical and personal history, "I feel he is misdiagnosed."
McCree said White's original diagnosis of "major depression with psychotic features" should be re-examined and post traumatic stress disorder should also be considered.
"The reason I write Donnie and other mentally ill (Tamms) inmates is because they so obviously need some help, some caring and compassion," she said.
"Tamms inmates need time out of the cell, and the ability to socialize with other inmates without a steel door between them. They suffer tremendously. No one would rationally choose to live in the circumstances at Tamms," McCree said.
Alexandra H. Smith of the Mental Health Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City said while any mental health therapy is better than none at all, "The tension of trying to provide treatment for people in a punitive setting, I don't know how successful that can be. I think it really sends a strong message to any human being who is shackled and in a cage. ... I think that sends a message that chaining someone like an animal is not rehabilitative."
Critics: Tamms has harmed man's mental condition
Will Tamms supermax prison inmate Donnie White be among the inmates considered for possible transfer after spending years in solitary confinement? That may depend on how corrections officials view his mental state.
Critics believe the strict discipline and isolation White has undergone at the Tamms Correctional Center for the past seven years may have made his severe mental illness, diagnosed in prison a decade ago, worse.
But mental health professionals at Tamms concluded last year that White, 35, no longer is mentally ill and deserves the punishment he's receiving for continued bizarre behavior, ranging from suicide attempts to setting himself on fire.
In September, Illinois Department of Corrections Director Michael Randle released a 10-point plan to reform conditions at Tamms, the state's only supermax prison. Among those reforms: 45 of the prison's 250 inmates are eligible for review to determine whether they should be moved out of Tamms.
It's not clear whether White will be one of them.
"Donnie White should never have been sent there in the first place, and now he has suffered years of sustained, unrelenting trauma as a result," said Laurie Jo Reynolds, a member of the Chicago-based Tamms Year Ten Committee that has advocated for reforms at Tamms. "Prisoners like him need protection from the (Department of Corrections), not the other way around.
"If there is any real commitment to reform, we expect Donnie White to be transferred immediately," she said.
Department of Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith said federal medical privacy laws prevented her from making any comment about White's case. It's not clear what guidelines were used to determine whether an inmate is eligible for review and transfer.
Randle put the number of seriously mentally ill inmates at Tamms at 15, or 6 percent. A 2006 U.S. Department of Justice report of state prisons surveyed nationally put the figure at 15 to 23 percent.
White may be unique, though, among inmates at Tamms who have extensive histories of severe mental illness.
Prison medical records obtained by the Belleville News-Democrat show an unusual progression: White went from being "acutely mentally ill" in 1998 to not being mentally ill in 2008. During the 10-year interval, he was given powerful psychotropic medications, sometimes forcibly administered, intensive therapy and an emergency transfer for a few months to the prison system's Dixon Psychiatric Unit.
But in 2003, when prison officials sent him to Tamms after he had 15 years added to his original sentence for in-prison convictions -- throwing urine and feces at guards at another prison -- a Corrections Department psychologist wrote that the years of therapy and drugs did nothing to help White.
The evaluation stated, "Behaviors exhibited by Mr. White include setting fire to self ... attempting to hang self with numerous items, smearing feces on self and cell, banging fist on floors, stomping on hand and other self-injurious behaviors."
The evaluation reported that White still exhibited symptoms of serious mental illness.
He then was sent to Tamms, where he has been in solitary confinement for nearly seven years.
Although his suicide attempts and self-mutilation continued and medications didn't work, an April 10, 2008, mental evaluation of White stated, "Inmate White does not suffer from mental illness." It concluded that White engaged in "antics" and "appears to view staff, especially female mental health providers, as a vehicle for his own entertainment."
Randle has defended the practice of treatment seriously mentally ill prisoners at Tamms, which features solitary confinement as a mainstay.
Holley McCree, who has a master's degree in social work and counsels mentally ill patients in Minnesota, has corresponded with White for more than five years. She said that while she cannot make a professional diagnosis without examining White, she said that from his letters and medical and personal history, "I feel he is misdiagnosed."
McCree said White's original diagnosis of "major depression with psychotic features" should be re-examined and post traumatic stress disorder should also be considered.
"The reason I write Donnie and other mentally ill (Tamms) inmates is because they so obviously need some help, some caring and compassion," she said.
"Tamms inmates need time out of the cell, and the ability to socialize with other inmates without a steel door between them. They suffer tremendously. No one would rationally choose to live in the circumstances at Tamms," McCree said.
Alexandra H. Smith of the Mental Health Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City said while any mental health therapy is better than none at all, "The tension of trying to provide treatment for people in a punitive setting, I don't know how successful that can be. I think it really sends a strong message to any human being who is shackled and in a cage. ... I think that sends a message that chaining someone like an animal is not rehabilitative."
Sunday, September 27, 2009
New Book, Same Story
This author is one of the newest ones who have a family story about mental illness. But what he says in his interview is the current bottom line in America. I am proud that we are not just locking-up our loved ones, yes I had one as well, but the liberal laws that changed things in the 1950's went too far to the other side of the spectrum. As Steve says, " It is good for the patient's rights may not be good for the family." He also addressed the issue of not being able to access patient records. The records are also held in confidence no matter what. Recently, one of my Special Ed. students was going through a manic phase and ran away from school at lunch time. He was also cursing and throwing books in the classroom. While I know that other students could possibly get hurt, it was apparent that his meds. were not correct. The teachers were very upset because the administration was going to have to let him stay in the regular ed. classroom because of his rights. He has the same rights as any adult on the street, until he actually hurts himself or someone else, then there is not much any official can do to help him. Most lay people do not understand this. One of the teachers said to me"Doing nothing is not an option". I told her that doing nothing is actually an option because our hands are tied. His mother also took him to the ER one weekend because he was still showing manic episodes at home with her, but when they got to the ER all the kid did was sleep, so the ER personnel could not keep him or do much to help her at the time. She was very upset. If the medical staff does not "witness" the behavior first hand, then what the mother said was happening at home is just hearsay.
Washington Post journalist Steve Luxenberg learned he’d had an aunt, institutionalized for mental illness in 1940 and hidden by his mother for more than half a century. His new book, Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret , tells the story.
How has our approach to mental illness changed since the 1940s?
We don’t put people in mental institutions at nearly the rate we did then. In 1955, there were 550,000 patients. The country’s population is nearly double now, so you’d expect a million today. Instead we have fewer than 50,000.
Why is that?
New medicines allowed people to be treated at home. Then, later, the legal standard changed. In the ‘40s, many states had a legal obligation to give “treatment and care” to their “defectives.” Now, you cannot be forced into an institution unless you are a danger to yourself or others.
And that’s a good thing, right?
Yes. But what’s good for the patient’s rights may not be good for the family. The family might not be able to care for a patient whose behavior is erratic. That’s the ongoing conflict.
You had trouble accessing your aunt’s medical records. Why?
Medical-records management people are in charge of saying “no” to protect people’s privacy. But if we shut off medical records of people long deceased, we’re locking up information that families and medical providers ought to know. As scientists learn more and more about the genetic basis of all kinds of illnesses, access to records is an issue we’re going to have to confront.
—
Washington Post journalist Steve Luxenberg learned he’d had an aunt, institutionalized for mental illness in 1940 and hidden by his mother for more than half a century. His new book, Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret , tells the story.
How has our approach to mental illness changed since the 1940s?
We don’t put people in mental institutions at nearly the rate we did then. In 1955, there were 550,000 patients. The country’s population is nearly double now, so you’d expect a million today. Instead we have fewer than 50,000.
Why is that?
New medicines allowed people to be treated at home. Then, later, the legal standard changed. In the ‘40s, many states had a legal obligation to give “treatment and care” to their “defectives.” Now, you cannot be forced into an institution unless you are a danger to yourself or others.
And that’s a good thing, right?
Yes. But what’s good for the patient’s rights may not be good for the family. The family might not be able to care for a patient whose behavior is erratic. That’s the ongoing conflict.
You had trouble accessing your aunt’s medical records. Why?
Medical-records management people are in charge of saying “no” to protect people’s privacy. But if we shut off medical records of people long deceased, we’re locking up information that families and medical providers ought to know. As scientists learn more and more about the genetic basis of all kinds of illnesses, access to records is an issue we’re going to have to confront.
—
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Right Direction
I vote for my tax dollars to be used for programs such as this. This will help a lot of mentally ill persons get off the street, if they will take advantage of it.
Recovering through housing
AT HOME: Leslie Moreno shows off her typewriter collection at Daniel's Village on Friday. photo by Brandon Wise.
September 12, 2009
SANTA MONICA BLVD — A trio of antique typewriters sit in a line atop a desk, showcased in exhibition yet still living out their created purpose, each holding a piece of paper from the platen, containing the thoughts of a 23-year-old woman.
"That one types in cursive," the woman said, pointing to the device the farthest from her.
A proud smile comes across her face as she then pulls open a drawer, revealing two very special typewriters, picking up a hard case that holds one from the 1920s, purchased from her fiancé who helped the young woman begin her growing collection.
From the books on the shelf to the typewriters on the desk to the black shawl draped over the window, these are the items that make the small room inside the former Village Motel feel more like home for Leslie Moreno, who this summer was one of eight local young adults suffering from mental illnesses to take up residence in the new Daniel's Village
"I feel safe," Moreno, who suffers from depression and bipolar disorder, said. "Being able to have my things is important to me."
Daniel's Village, the latest project of nonprofit organization Step Up on Second, celebrated its grand opening on Friday, having the distinction of being the only permanent supportive housing program in the Los Angeles area for young adults — 18-28 years old — who experience the initial symptoms of mental illness.
The program was spawned from Daniel's Place, a drop-in center geared toward the same demographic that has served more than 400 clients since it was founded 11 years ago, offering support groups for clients and families and individual consultations.
Located at 2624 Santa Monica Blvd. in an old motel, the $2.4 million project involved converting eight old units into dormitory-style rooms, each coming with its own bathroom and kitchenette. Several original pieces of the motel remain, including the old "Village Motel" and office signs, the latter of which hangs outside the resident manager's unit.
The tenants are required to meet certain criteria in order to qualify for housing, being both homeless and suffering from a mental illness.
Bulldog Realtors
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The idea for a permanent supportive housing program to supplement the services at Daniel's Place was originally conceived about four years ago but faced several roadblocks on its way to completion, including opposition from neighbors in Sunset Park where it was originally proposed to be located near John Adams Middle School and its new neighbors because of the proximity to McKinley Elementary School.
The organization takes a housing first approach when it comes to treating its clients, finding that homelessness is often one of the biggest obstacles to recovery.
"We're really providing a solution to homelessness in the city," Tod Lipka, the CEO of Step Up on Second, said. "It's all about people moving in and people having a home for the first time in their adult life."
It was earlier this year when Moreno realized that she needed help, having essentially isolating herself in a bedroom for three months.
An independent person, she said it was difficult to take the first step toward recovery.
It started at a bus stop in Santa Monica.
Moreno sat at the stop crying when a stranger asked if she could do anything to help. What she received was a referral to see Ed Edelman, the Santa Monica "homeless czar."
That led to a series of referrals that brought Moreno to Daniel's Place in May.
Today Moreno has resumed taking courses at the California Healing Arts College, hoping to become a massage therapist.
There are still days that are worse than others, but Moreno is thankful regardless that she took that first step, the first step out of the room she was holed up in for three months, and the first step toward recovery.
icon
Recovering through housing
AT HOME: Leslie Moreno shows off her typewriter collection at Daniel's Village on Friday. photo by Brandon Wise.
September 12, 2009
SANTA MONICA BLVD — A trio of antique typewriters sit in a line atop a desk, showcased in exhibition yet still living out their created purpose, each holding a piece of paper from the platen, containing the thoughts of a 23-year-old woman.
"That one types in cursive," the woman said, pointing to the device the farthest from her.
A proud smile comes across her face as she then pulls open a drawer, revealing two very special typewriters, picking up a hard case that holds one from the 1920s, purchased from her fiancé who helped the young woman begin her growing collection.
From the books on the shelf to the typewriters on the desk to the black shawl draped over the window, these are the items that make the small room inside the former Village Motel feel more like home for Leslie Moreno, who this summer was one of eight local young adults suffering from mental illnesses to take up residence in the new Daniel's Village
"I feel safe," Moreno, who suffers from depression and bipolar disorder, said. "Being able to have my things is important to me."
Daniel's Village, the latest project of nonprofit organization Step Up on Second, celebrated its grand opening on Friday, having the distinction of being the only permanent supportive housing program in the Los Angeles area for young adults — 18-28 years old — who experience the initial symptoms of mental illness.
The program was spawned from Daniel's Place, a drop-in center geared toward the same demographic that has served more than 400 clients since it was founded 11 years ago, offering support groups for clients and families and individual consultations.
Located at 2624 Santa Monica Blvd. in an old motel, the $2.4 million project involved converting eight old units into dormitory-style rooms, each coming with its own bathroom and kitchenette. Several original pieces of the motel remain, including the old "Village Motel" and office signs, the latter of which hangs outside the resident manager's unit.
The tenants are required to meet certain criteria in order to qualify for housing, being both homeless and suffering from a mental illness.
Bulldog Realtors
advertisement
The idea for a permanent supportive housing program to supplement the services at Daniel's Place was originally conceived about four years ago but faced several roadblocks on its way to completion, including opposition from neighbors in Sunset Park where it was originally proposed to be located near John Adams Middle School and its new neighbors because of the proximity to McKinley Elementary School.
The organization takes a housing first approach when it comes to treating its clients, finding that homelessness is often one of the biggest obstacles to recovery.
"We're really providing a solution to homelessness in the city," Tod Lipka, the CEO of Step Up on Second, said. "It's all about people moving in and people having a home for the first time in their adult life."
It was earlier this year when Moreno realized that she needed help, having essentially isolating herself in a bedroom for three months.
An independent person, she said it was difficult to take the first step toward recovery.
It started at a bus stop in Santa Monica.
Moreno sat at the stop crying when a stranger asked if she could do anything to help. What she received was a referral to see Ed Edelman, the Santa Monica "homeless czar."
That led to a series of referrals that brought Moreno to Daniel's Place in May.
Today Moreno has resumed taking courses at the California Healing Arts College, hoping to become a massage therapist.
There are still days that are worse than others, but Moreno is thankful regardless that she took that first step, the first step out of the room she was holed up in for three months, and the first step toward recovery.
icon
Friday, August 21, 2009
Doesn't matter
I understand the pain and hurt the families of the slain students, but this is a law issue. It does not matter if the psychiatrist had the records or not. By law he would have to keep the information confidential until Cho actually hurt himself or someone else. They might have been able to retain the student with the 72 hour rule. Otherwise, Cho had every right to be as crazy as he wanted to be until he hurt himself or someone else. This is where the liberal laws have hurt and killed innocent people. Very big controversy and very sad.
Document filed in VT shooting suits demands former director 'admit or deny' allegations
Previous coverage
* Released mental health records provide details of Cho's counseling sessions
* Cho records may alter April 16 panel's findings
* Ex-director of Virginia Tech counseling center responds to discovery questions
* New document released in Tech shooting suit
* Virginia Supreme Court appoints special judge to Tech shooting suits
* Lawsuits keep Virginia Tech shootings at forefront
* Gov. Kaine: Tech panel won't reconvene
* Removal of students' records from Virginia Tech counseling center not authorized, Steger says
* Ex-director took Cho file "inadvertently"
* Cho records surface, raise many questions
* Complete coverage of the April 16, 2007 Virginia Tech shootings
The latest legal filing related to two $10 million civil suits brought by families unhappy with Virginia Tech’s handling of the April 16, 2007, shootings demands that former Cook Counseling Center Director Robert Miller “admit or deny” 65 allegations and statements of fact.
The filing came after Wednesday’s public release of shooter Seung-Hui Cho’s student once-missing mental health records.
Bob Hall, a lawyer for the families of slain Tech students Nicole Peterson and Julia Pryde, released the “request for admissions” filing on Thursday.
Many of the items listed are facts already stipulated to by Miller, including that he removed Cho’s mental health records while packing to leave his office in 2006.
Miller has said he found the records July 15 while searching his Blacksburg home for documents relevant to the civil suits, in which he is named as a defendant. Gov. Tim Kaine announced discovery of Cho’s missing records July 22. The Cho family authorized their release earlier this month.
Among the declarations Miller is asked to admit or deny is: “Admit that at no time during your tenure at Cook Counseling Center did you record or cause anyone to record the history you received of Seung-Hui Cho’s violent writings, violent, threatening or intimidating activities, strange attire, bizarre behavior” or complaints from English department faculty, who had grown increasingly alarmed by Cho.
Miller, the document suggests, should have fully informed his staff of the extent of Cho’s problems. And, Hall said, Miller failed to ensure that Cho was treated for mental illness.
“This is a lawyer drafting his wish list of what the facts might be,” Ed McNelis, the lawyer representing several Cook Counseling center staffers in the lawsuits, said of Hall’s filing. “It does not mean they are true.”
“He could put in there, 'Admit that you shot JFK.’ It doesn’t mean you did it,” McNelis said.
Document filed in VT shooting suits demands former director 'admit or deny' allegations
Previous coverage
* Released mental health records provide details of Cho's counseling sessions
* Cho records may alter April 16 panel's findings
* Ex-director of Virginia Tech counseling center responds to discovery questions
* New document released in Tech shooting suit
* Virginia Supreme Court appoints special judge to Tech shooting suits
* Lawsuits keep Virginia Tech shootings at forefront
* Gov. Kaine: Tech panel won't reconvene
* Removal of students' records from Virginia Tech counseling center not authorized, Steger says
* Ex-director took Cho file "inadvertently"
* Cho records surface, raise many questions
* Complete coverage of the April 16, 2007 Virginia Tech shootings
The latest legal filing related to two $10 million civil suits brought by families unhappy with Virginia Tech’s handling of the April 16, 2007, shootings demands that former Cook Counseling Center Director Robert Miller “admit or deny” 65 allegations and statements of fact.
The filing came after Wednesday’s public release of shooter Seung-Hui Cho’s student once-missing mental health records.
Bob Hall, a lawyer for the families of slain Tech students Nicole Peterson and Julia Pryde, released the “request for admissions” filing on Thursday.
Many of the items listed are facts already stipulated to by Miller, including that he removed Cho’s mental health records while packing to leave his office in 2006.
Miller has said he found the records July 15 while searching his Blacksburg home for documents relevant to the civil suits, in which he is named as a defendant. Gov. Tim Kaine announced discovery of Cho’s missing records July 22. The Cho family authorized their release earlier this month.
Among the declarations Miller is asked to admit or deny is: “Admit that at no time during your tenure at Cook Counseling Center did you record or cause anyone to record the history you received of Seung-Hui Cho’s violent writings, violent, threatening or intimidating activities, strange attire, bizarre behavior” or complaints from English department faculty, who had grown increasingly alarmed by Cho.
Miller, the document suggests, should have fully informed his staff of the extent of Cho’s problems. And, Hall said, Miller failed to ensure that Cho was treated for mental illness.
“This is a lawyer drafting his wish list of what the facts might be,” Ed McNelis, the lawyer representing several Cook Counseling center staffers in the lawsuits, said of Hall’s filing. “It does not mean they are true.”
“He could put in there, 'Admit that you shot JFK.’ It doesn’t mean you did it,” McNelis said.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Lots of Reasons Why
I do realize that we have been locking up some of our mentally ill youths. One of the problems is the parents. Why have these young people gotten this far into a mental illness anyway that they are incarcerated? From my experience, with the special ed. children I work with, a lot of their problems are their parents. Ask any teacher and they will say that a lot of problems kids have are because of their parents. They need to do a better job.
Locking up Kids with Mental Illness
Locking up Kids with Mental IllnessA few weeks ago, we wrote about the opening of a mental health court in Philadelphia to help deal with a problem that’s overwhelming the U.S. justice system — poor mental health care in prisons, affecting up to 30 percent of those incarcerated.
Some of the problems our prisons face can be traced back to a pretty straightforward issue — our prisons are overcrowded. For instance, the prisons have been so overcrowded in California, the California prison system has been under a federal court’s oversight for years. And that court has become so frustrated by California’s lack of interest in the humane treatment of their prisoners, they recently ordered the number of prisoners cut by 27 percent within two years. The case that resulted in the court order began as the result of class action lawsuits addressing — surprise, surprise! — inadequate medical and mental health care in the prison system.
Which brings us to the sorry state of affairs in the juvenile prison system.
According to a recent New York Times article, about two-thirds of the nation’s approximately 93,000 juvenile inmates have at least one mental illness, citing surveys of youth prisons.
You’d think with such high rates of diagnosable mental health concerns in these children, you’d be offering them the highest mental health care possible, right? I mean, if anyone can be helped by such care early on, it’s likely to be children who are under the state’s care.
Sadly, that’s not the case. Just as with adults, we warehouse the children in facilities that not only do little to provide for their mental health needs, but continue to cut back in tough economic times:
At least 32 states cut their community mental health programs by an average of 5 percent this year and plan to double those budget reductions by 2010, according to a recent survey of state mental health offices.
Juvenile prisons have been the caretaker of last resort for troubled children since the 1980s, but mental health experts say the system is in crisis, facing a soaring number of inmates reliant on multiple — and powerful — psychotropic drugs and a shortage of therapists.
The children and teens in the juvenile justice system are just that — children and teens. According to surveys, more than half have histories of exposure to violence, neglect, abuse and trauma. It is estimated that up to 75 percent of young offenders have a substance abuse disorder. Other research has shown that as many as 20 percent of this group also suffer from a serious mental disorder, like clinical depression or bipolar disorder.
There are no easy answers to these problems, especially in tough economic times. States have no money, so they cut back on these “luxury” items, like adequate medical and mental health care to those under its charge. And few people care about the criminal justice system in the U.S. (since most of us have never been to prison or have any direct experience with it). Yet you can tell a lot about a society by the way they treat not only their indigent, but also their criminals. Even more so when those criminals are our own children and teens.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Locking up Kids with Mental Illness
Locking up Kids with Mental IllnessA few weeks ago, we wrote about the opening of a mental health court in Philadelphia to help deal with a problem that’s overwhelming the U.S. justice system — poor mental health care in prisons, affecting up to 30 percent of those incarcerated.
Some of the problems our prisons face can be traced back to a pretty straightforward issue — our prisons are overcrowded. For instance, the prisons have been so overcrowded in California, the California prison system has been under a federal court’s oversight for years. And that court has become so frustrated by California’s lack of interest in the humane treatment of their prisoners, they recently ordered the number of prisoners cut by 27 percent within two years. The case that resulted in the court order began as the result of class action lawsuits addressing — surprise, surprise! — inadequate medical and mental health care in the prison system.
Which brings us to the sorry state of affairs in the juvenile prison system.
According to a recent New York Times article, about two-thirds of the nation’s approximately 93,000 juvenile inmates have at least one mental illness, citing surveys of youth prisons.
You’d think with such high rates of diagnosable mental health concerns in these children, you’d be offering them the highest mental health care possible, right? I mean, if anyone can be helped by such care early on, it’s likely to be children who are under the state’s care.
Sadly, that’s not the case. Just as with adults, we warehouse the children in facilities that not only do little to provide for their mental health needs, but continue to cut back in tough economic times:
At least 32 states cut their community mental health programs by an average of 5 percent this year and plan to double those budget reductions by 2010, according to a recent survey of state mental health offices.
Juvenile prisons have been the caretaker of last resort for troubled children since the 1980s, but mental health experts say the system is in crisis, facing a soaring number of inmates reliant on multiple — and powerful — psychotropic drugs and a shortage of therapists.
The children and teens in the juvenile justice system are just that — children and teens. According to surveys, more than half have histories of exposure to violence, neglect, abuse and trauma. It is estimated that up to 75 percent of young offenders have a substance abuse disorder. Other research has shown that as many as 20 percent of this group also suffer from a serious mental disorder, like clinical depression or bipolar disorder.
There are no easy answers to these problems, especially in tough economic times. States have no money, so they cut back on these “luxury” items, like adequate medical and mental health care to those under its charge. And few people care about the criminal justice system in the U.S. (since most of us have never been to prison or have any direct experience with it). Yet you can tell a lot about a society by the way they treat not only their indigent, but also their criminals. Even more so when those criminals are our own children and teens.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Sad Realization
Stigma surrounding mental illness remains despite abundant pharaceutical ads. The medicalization of such mental illnesses as depression and bipolar disorder, which have seen prescription drug advertisements on TV skyrocket since such advertising became permissible in 1997, has done nothing to remove the harmful stigma attached to the illnesses, according to sociologists from Indiana University and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. "The findings fly in the face of current thinking about ways that stigma can be reduced," said Peggy Thoits, Virginia L. Roberts Professor of Sociology in IU's College of Arts and Sciences. Stigma has posed a steadfast obstacle to the treatment of many mental health illnesses. Negative perceptions of mental illness color the support and advice people get from their friends, family and even their physicians and can create a reluctance to seek help. The study by Thoits and lead author Andrew R. Payton, graduate student at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, sought to see if attitudes toward mental illness have changed since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued new guidelines allowing pharmaceutical companies to air TV ads. Theoretically, when a condition such as depression comes to be viewed as a treatable medical condition instead of a moral failing or spiritual condition, this should reduce the blame and stigma attached to depression. The researchers examined the Mental Health Modules in the General Social Survey during these intervening years and saw no change in attitudes toward people with mental illness, specifically when they compared depression, which was a focus of many TV commercials, to schizophrenia, for which no drugs have been advertised. "We're making a big assumption, that marketing drugs to treat some these conditions is actually penetrating the consciousness of viewers, giving them the ability to recognize symptoms and conceptualize them as disorders and to see that these disorders can be relieved essentially with drugs," Thoits said. The study was presented on Monday.
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