Pete Earley

UPDATE: Since posting this blog earlier today, POLITICO has published its story about the two dueling bills and has confirmed much of what I first reported this morning in my earlier blog.  Here is POLITICO’s take on whether partisan politics is at play here. You will find a comparsion of the bills after the story.

Fears of slowed progress with new mental health bill

By PAIGE WINFIELD CUNNINGHAM

POLITICO  5/6/14 6:28 PM EDT

A new mental health bill proposed Tuesday by a group of House Democrats is stoking fears that it could hinder progress toward bipartisan reform.

While some advocates suggested the legislation could add to ideas already on the table from Republicans, others said they’re underwhelmed by the proposal and wonder why the Democrats felt a need to present it at all. And it was immediately blasted as a stripped-down, politically orchestrated effort by Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, the GOP’s champion of a sweeping mental health reform bill.

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The Democrats revealed competing mental health legislation Tuesday in a move to derail the bill that Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) has been pushing through the House. Behind the scenes, I was told that petty partisan politics are more at play here than the public may realize.  One story making the rounds is that Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader of the House, was not keen on having Murphy, a Republican, being responsible for pushing a social reform bill through Congress because social reform is supposed to be the hallmark of Democrats not Republicans.

Okay, I’ve just written that based on what several legitimate Capitol Hill sources told me and when I re-read it, I realized how childish it sounds. But honest, that is what I have been told by activists who are working behind the scenes trying to pass Murphy’s bill and those trying to stop it. Yep, by both sides.

I was also told that Rep. Ron Barber (D-Az.)  one of the drafters of the Democrat’s bill, was not happy that Rep. Murphy didn’t make enough of an effort to consult with him before introducing his bill.

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MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA AND BAZELON HOPE TO DERAIL REPUBLICAN PLAN

House Democrats will introduce a mental health bill later this week to challenge  the Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act introduced by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) the only psychologist in Congress. Murphy was hoping to get his bill submitted for a vote next month on the House floor and had garnered some 70 cosponsors and editorial support  recently from The Washington Post.

Fears that Rep. Murphy’s bill was moving forward and might actually become law alarmed mental health groups that oppose the legislation. Mental Health America, the largest consumer mental health grassroots organizations, and the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, which is the non-profit organization that championed the fight for civil rights for persons with mental disorders decades ago and remains an influential legal watchdog for consumers, worked tirelessly behind the scenes against the bill. Gina Nikkel from the Foundation For Excellence in Mental Health Care, an upstart umbrella non-profit group initially launched by author Robert Whitaker and championed by Virgil Stucker of CooperRiiss, also criticized the bill.

Before resigning as president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Executive Director Mike Fitzpatrick put NAMI on record as supporting Rep. Murphy’s legislation.  That move reportedly caused an uproar among NAMI board members, including complaints from NAMI’s growing consumer membership base who feared the new law would infringe on their civil rights. In a New York Times interview, NAMI Board Chairwoman Keris Myrick was quoted saying: ““I think almost everyone sees things in the bill that are long overdue, but also things they’re very concerned about.”

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CAPTION: “The Maniac will embody the excitement leading up to the university’s first game.” YOSHITAKA HAMADA / SPECIAL TO THE LEDGER

I’m glad there has been a public outcry against the  racist rant by the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. I hope Donald Sterling is held accountable for his words.

Now I am wondering when that same public outrage will surface for individuals with mental illnesses after they are stigmatized.

Take for example the announcement in the Lakeland, Florida newspaper, The Ledger,  that Southeastern University has chosen as it’s new mascot The Maniac. Mind you that this is a Christian school that describes itself this way on its website:

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Is it possible for supporters of Mind Freedom,  the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness,  Mental Illness Policy and the Treatment Advocacy Center to have a civil discussion and reach a consensus about how everyone can work together to improve mental health care in America?

The Scattergood Foundation hopes so.

How would you design a mental health system?

Last year, Scattergood brought together several prominent mental health advocates for a conference and challenged them to identify the issues that cause dissent  and find ways to formulate solutions that would enable all of us to improve the delivery of mental health services to those who need them. Scattergood has now released two position papers and is seeking comments about both.

The subjects: liberty and privacy.

Dr. Lloyd Sederer and Dr. Michael Hogan will officially present the papers on May 5th to some four thousand attendees at the National Council on Behavioral Health conference in Washington D.C. and I have been asked to participate in a panel discussion about the paper’s findings and recommendations. Joining me will be consumer advocate Harvey Rosenthal, Dr. Harold Schwartz, Scattergood President Joe Pyle and the national council’s president and CEO, Linda Rosenberg , along with Dr. Sederer and Dr. Hogan.

If you visit the Scattergood’s website, you can read both papers and offer your comments. You can also fill out a poll that gives you a chance to state whether or not you strongly disagree or agree with the findings of the two papers.

While both are thought-provoking and well done, I suspect the paper on liberty — Liberty and Recovery: Resolving a Mental Health Dilemma — will most stir the pot. That’s because its authors endorse the use of Assisted Outpatient Treatment BUT ONLY after explaining that AOT should be used only as a last resort and would not be needed as frequently if decent community mental health services were put into place. The authors’ state:

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