Comments on: Judge Orders New York to Move Mentally Ill Out of Adult Homes

By: Astrid

Astrid — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:47:16 +0000

@ abby jean: well it is true that simply not having lower level facilities around is a bad reason for institutionalization, but I don’t see how people whose conditions “require” “require” intensive care, can be warehoused like that. I am all for the least restrictive environment, but it is not like a more restrictive environment necessarily requires warehouse-like conditions. I am concerned with the need for civil rights to be “cost-effective” or “appropriate” for the person’s condition.

By: abby jean

abby jean — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:48:09 +0000

@Astrid – my impression (and I’m not all that familiar with this case) is that it concerned people who were inappropriately kept in more restrictive facilities than their condition warranted, only because no lower-level facilities were available. So people whose conditions require intensive treatment might not be included in this order, as they are appropriately placed in a higher level facility. But keeping people in an institution simply because there’s no lower-level facilities in existence is definitely a problem.

By: Astrid

Astrid — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:25:12 +0000

As much as I agree with this decision, it leaves out those “most severe” cases. If the cost for community living is said to be $40,000/year, that threshold is easily reached for people with more intensive needs. Are they somehow allowed to live in abusive conditions? I’m not saying you think so, but the judge clearly didn’t realize these implications.

By: Laughingrat

Laughingrat — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:16:10 +0000

This is really wonderful news. I cringed before reading the post, because I thought it was going to be a story about the exact opposite situation!