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Wake Up Call for the State of CO for Olmstead Mental Health Enforcement

3/26/2016

It is the responsibility of the Gov. & State Officials to comply with Federal law, including Federal civil rights laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act.
A direct consequence of the failure to fulfill that responsibility is the unnecessary institutionalization of people with mental illness in jails and prisons and the inherent risk of institutionalization in homelessness.

WAKE UP & ENTER GOOD FAITH OLMSTEAD NEGOTIATIONS NOW

We would be happy to remember the Gov. & State officials as the ones who "Woke Up."

To paraphrase the video: We need less judging & more talking: our consciences need "wake-up calls"

Federalist Paper #51: "If men were angels, no government would be necessary."

"Civil Commitment" Laws Might Prevent Some of This Horror, Wouldn't They?

3/19/2016

I not so subtly argued on the Orchid website that the State's behavior in our "negotiations" reminded me of Joseph Heller's Catch 22.

   Well, the State is not the only one that can play that game; although they are experienced at it. We have a whole group of folks with "mental illness" that we have determined -- from clinicians to attorneys to judges, etc. that despite the fact that these Homeless people would seemingly meet the criteria for "Gravely Disabled" --- we are going to collectively ignore that fact and in fact honor the Civil Rights of these often Black and Brown people with mental illness -- allowing them the freedom to remain homeless.

Of course, they don't want to be institutionalized and they generally don't need to be.

   On the other hand, most of them don't won't to be homeless either and its driving their mental & physical health further & further into the ground. But we're upholding their Civil Rights and that's really the important thing --- & GAWD How would providing Housing effect TABOR?

   Colorado has done some on the Housing front and there is a lot more to do. While Assertive Community Treatment, etc. can be covered by Medicaid (with the State match), it might really make sense to use Social Impact Bonds to try and cover the considerable Housing Colorado is legally required to provide under Olmstead and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

   People with mental illness who find themselves homeless or incarcerated need a considerable amount of support.

   I am not so much wanting a Court Order or Certification on the Person, as a Court Order on the State to provide Housing and Necessary Intensive Services as required and desired by the person.

   Also, we have people out on our Streets that are quite traumatized and or have experienced paranoia for years perhaps decades.

   We don't want to:

Find an easy way to scratch someone off our caseload -- in pretty desperate straits & would qualify as "Gravely Disabled"
Lose Track of Them

We Do Want To:

Consider more ethical ways of handling these matters
That means Housing & Intensive Services

"They Know What They Doin"

3/5/2016

The question of whether we "understand the nature and consequences of our actions" has always fascinated me because I don't think it is a simple question and I think there are many layers to understanding everything --- including our own actions.
   So when I was meeting with my guy in the Denver Detention Center, I mentioned that I had tried to enlist the help of the State on Administrative Segregation in County Jails and really hadn't gotten anywhere.
   I surmised that the people I was trying to influence didn't really have the authority to help me.
   My guy shot back, "They Know What They Doin. You don't get those jobs unless you know what's going on."
  From my standpoint, the State presents a very complicated mixed bag of good intentions and overly self-protective tendencies that often get the better of it, leading it to violate the rights of vulnerable people:

The Death of Christopher Lopez in Administrative Segregation. Prior to announcing the death, the State comes out with the most bold forward thinking policy in the nation to end administrative segregation of inmates with mental illness in prisons -- we cheered. Then we learned the sorry story of how the Lopez family had been treated as well as the Colorado public -- and felt duped. It's still a fantastic policy AND the State has to get a lot more honest & straightforward & quicker.
Colorado's Community Living Plan/Olmstead Plan

   Colorado really did work hard on this, and while it
     has some pretty obvious flaws such as excluding
people in the criminal justice system, I really did
not think it was going to turn into the nightmare
   that it did. AND when I say that I don't just mean
that I wasn't on the same page with the State -- I
   mean the State violated Attorney Rules of
     Professional Conduct and took Frivolous Positions
such as for over a year they refused to have a
Substantive Discussion on the Olmstead
     Allegations. When I threatened to go to the
     media, I did get a conversation with HCPF
Executive Director Gretchen Hammer who I think did want to try to help. AND she was going to see what the State could do on Housing & ACT. Well, I never heard back on Housing & what I got from    the Assistant Attorney General on Assertive
   Community Treatment is what we are currently doing.

As for working, with Stakeholder groups -- I never heard back after I advised I wanted to present on these Olmstead issues. There has been a lying problem from the Attorney General's Office on silly stuff, and it's one of the reasons we have had such difficulty in getting to the substance of these Olmstead matters.

P.S. Clarification on Stakeholder Groups: There are probably 2 major incidents regarding stakeholder groups the incident above refers to the 1st incident in which the State had really cut off any further semblance of Olmstead negotiation and referred me to a Stakeholder group.

But the Stakeholder group was not open to me presenting on Olmstead issues, apparently since I never heard back from the staff member in charge of the group when I asked to do that.

The 2nd incident involved requesting the State to meet with members of Black Lives Matter 5280, Sheriffs Depts, Etc., and other Stakeholders on matters of Jail Diversion. Gretchen Hammer, Executive Director of the Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing seemed up for that -- but the Attorney General's Office said there could be no Jail Diversion Stakeholders meeting as long as we pursued our Olmstead Claims in Court.

We are pursuing our Olmstead Claims, etc. in Court, AND hoping someone with the State will put the interests of vulnerable people with mental illness caught in the criminal justice system or homeless FIRST.

Val's Blog

Wake Up Call for the State of CO for Olmstead Mental Health Enforcement

WAKE UP & ENTER GOOD FAITH OLMSTEAD NEGOTIATIONS NOW

We would be happy to remember the Gov. & State officials as the ones who "Woke Up."

To paraphrase the video: We need less judging & more talking: our consciences need "wake-up calls"

Federalist Paper #51: "If men were angels, no government would be necessary."

"Civil Commitment" Laws Might Prevent Some of This Horror, Wouldn't They?

"They Know What They Doin"

Author

Archives

Categories

Val's Blog

Wake Up Call for the State of CO for Olmstead Mental Health Enforcement

WAKE UP & ENTER GOOD FAITH OLMSTEAD NEGOTIATIONS NOW

We would be happy to remember the Gov. & State officials as the ones who "Woke Up."​

To paraphrase the video: We need less judging & more talking: our consciences need "wake-up calls"

Federalist Paper #51: "If men were angels, no government would be necessary."

"Civil Commitment" Laws Might Prevent Some of This Horror, Wouldn't They?

"They Know What They Doin"

Author

Archives

Categories

We would be happy to remember the Gov. & State officials as the ones who "Woke Up."