Pete Earley

LATE BREAKING NEWS: The Cuomo administration has agreed to remove the ‘significant mental illness’ disqualifier and review all parolees who were previously disqualified to confirm whether any of them now qualify for release.” The question now is: where will they go?

(4-23-20) Many jails across our country are releasing prisoners vulnerable to Covid-19, but New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration has decided not to extend that mercy to inmates with “significant mental illness.”

The governor announced several weeks ago that he would begin freeing prisoners who were in jail because of “technical parole violations.” Technical violations are instances where a parolee fails to follow the rules of his/her release, such as maintaining employment, paying court fees, and showing up for appointments with parole officers.

The seriously mentally ill often have trouble following such rules, violate their parole, and end up back in jail.

The state has added the seriously mentally ill to a no early release list with inmates convicted of sex crimes, domestic violence, violent crimes involving weapons, and homeless prisoners who don’t have an “existing” residence.

Jennifer J. Parish, Director of Criminal Justice Advocacy at the Urban Center, a civil rights advocacy nonprofit based in New York City, called the administration’s actions “blatant discrimination,” and noted: “This exclusion of people with serious mental health concerns is just the latest example of New York incarcerating people with mental health challenges instead of providing for their needs in the community.”

New York already is being sued for keeping seriously mentally ill prisoners in jails and prisons after they have completed their sentences.

That’s right – after they’ve done their time they remain incarcerated because there are no programs for them if they were released. No shelter, no evidence based recovery efforts.

The state justifies its actions by claiming the seriously mentally ill continue to be a danger to themselves and others.  So instead of providing services to help those who are sick, the state is punishing them for being ill.

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(4-21-20) Social distancing is the wrong term. It should be called ‘physical distancing’ but we should continue to be social through phone calls, emails and services such as Facetime and Zoom.

That’s the message Gabe Howard, one of my favorite advocates, is spreading as part of a creative effort by the National Alliance On Mental Illness Tennessee state affiliate to help its members and those with mental illnesses stay connected and support each other during the Covid-19 pandemic.

NAMI Tennessee Executive Director Jeff Fladen launched NAMI AT HOME BUT NOT ALONE a few weeks ago and it has proven to be popular and helpful.

“I don’t know about you but for me it is getting harder to stay away from people every day,” Fladen explained. “Things are so confusing… I truly encourage people to try to be as patient as possible while our medical and healthcare community can figure out a good balance between saving our economy and avoiding unnecessary risk. I hope and pray that those with mental illness and other disabilities are part of this equation.”

NAMI Tennessee has conducted online support groups via the Internet and yesterday it hosted a live Facebook chat. Gabe Howard, author of Mental Illness is an A**hole, has contributed advice videos about such topics as how families can avoid conflicts while cooped up in a home.

On April 27, Roger and Denise Stewart will present Unfractured Lives on the NAMI Tennessee Facebook page at 3 pm CST/4 pm Eastern. During it, they will share their personal stories about how a husband and wife – one of whom has an illness and the other is a caregiver – navigate the challenges and triumphs of a life together.

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(4-13-20) PBS will premier two separate and important documentaries tonight and tomorrow at 10 p.m. EST about mental illness in America.

BEDLAM will trace the history of mental health treatment (or lack thereof) in America. At 2 p.m. EST today, the documentary’s director will host a Facebook discussion about mental health care that will feature  Daniel H. Gillison, Jr. the CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. You can participate by signing up here.

Tuesday night,  4-14-20,  PBS will show The Definition of Insanity, an eight part series that reveals how Miami Dade County, Florida, has transformed itself from a hellhole of misery into a national model when it comes to jail diversion, Crisis Intervention Team Training, and other mental health services.

I’m especially interested in The Definition of Insanity because two advocates, whom I greatly admire, are responsible for the series and because my book, CRAZY: A Father’s Search Through America’s Mental Health Madness, exposed the barbaric conditions that were in the Miami Dade jail back in 2006.

Judge Steven Leifman, who was responsible for getting me into that jail, has become a nationally recognized expert on how communities can better deal with individuals when they become entangled in the criminal justice system. Norman “Norm” J. Ornstein, who you might have seen on television offering expert commentary as an American political scientist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington D.C. conservative think tank, collaborated with Judge Leifman and is a major financial backer of the series.

Ornstein created the Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation Inc., after his 34 year-old son who died from carbon monoxide poisoning in 2015. Matthew fell asleep in a tent with a propane lantern emitting toxic fumes – an accident — but his death was shaped by a lack of judgment driven by his 10-year struggle with mental illness, his father said.

More than 360,000 individuals with diagnosed mental illnesses are currently in our jails and prisons, and 2.2 million are booked into jails each year. What Judge Leifman has demonstrated and the Ornstein PBS series poignantly documents, is how our communities could dramatically reduce that number and help people recover while saving tax dollars!

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(4-10-20) Notes about mental health and the Covid-19.

At the urging of lobbyists for hospital associations, the Trump Administration has announced that beds reserved for psychiatric patients in general hospitals and state mental hospitals can now be converted into beds for treating Covid-19 patients.

The authority to begin housing Covid-19 patients in beds previously reserved for psychiatric patients was authorized on March 30 and announced in a release by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services which authorizes federal payments through the Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP programs. CHIP is the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that provides health coverage to eligible children.

Why would hospitals want to treat Covid-19 patients rather than psychiatric patients, especially since  advocates have been complaining for years about a lack of crisis care and longer care psychiatric beds?

One could argue that hospitals want to help flatten the curve by using every bed possible to combat the corona virus. That’s admirable. A less noble view is that psychiatric departments in hospitals are among the least profitable.  Time magazine recently reported that one uninsured Covid-19 patient was charged $34,927.43 for treatment in her hospital.

If general hospitals, eager to earn bucks off the pandemic, begin turning away individuals in the midst of a psychiatric crisis or sending them to state hospitals, there will be even more overcrowding and long waits for beds.

So where will psychiatric patients go if all of their beds are being filled with Covid-19 patients?

The same lobbyists who pushed for the 1135 CMS wavier that allows hospitals to convert their psychic beds are urging the White House to stop the enforcement of the IMD exclusion that prohibits federal funds from going to psychiatric treatment facilities larger than 16 beds. Lifting the IMD, which many advocates have urged for years, would allow larger psychiatric facilities.

Crisis Lines: Telephone crisis lines are being swamped during the pandemic. The Veterans Administration usually fields 40,000 calls per month. In March, that number topped 150,000. Other crisis call centers also are reporting a record breaking number of calls. The VA is studying a plan to begin offering psychiatric telehealth conferencing in convenient spots, such as Walmarts, to serve veterans in crisis.

White House Conference Call Encouraging Mental Health Workers: President Donald J. Trump, Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Karen Pence, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, Veterans Administration Secretary Robert Wilkie, and Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Mental Health and Substance Use Dr. Elinore McCance Katz, spent a half hour on a conference call Thursday with 177 by-invitation-only listeners with varying ties to mental health.

Author D. J. Jaffe, Treatment Advocacy Center Executive Director John Snook, and Miami Dade Judge Steven Leifman were on the call, as was I.

The purpose of the call was to thank mental health workers who are risking their lives to serve individuals in need and to tout what the administration is doing to help Americans with opioid addictions and mental illnesses. The call was mostly a much needed pep talk and I am extremely grateful that the President took time to recognize the importance of mental health workers and mental health care.

As always is the case in Washington, conference calls with the White House are carefully scripted. Four individuals were allowed to ask questions that had been cleared beforehand. Those listening were not allowed to ask questions, which admittedly would have turned into a much longer and chaotic session.

Before the call, I asked a number of mental health experts to share recommendations they would make to the White House.  (These were personal requests by me and should not be seen as statements by any of the organizations that the experts represent.) I will forward these recommendations to the White House. Click to continue…

(4-6-20) Why are mental health workers going without protective equipment?

Two of my adult children work in the mental health profession. Although they are utilizing tele-medicine, clients still need help getting groceries and their prescriptions. They need to be taken to doctor appointments. Those in crisis still need to be seen.

My wife, Patti, has hired a neighbor to make masks for both of them that should be ready tomorrow. She’s also managed to secure a few paper ones.

The reporter in me is wondering how this is possible? How can we expect our mental health workers to do their jobs without personal protective equipment?

The father in me is outraged that my adult children are potentially putting their lives at risk.

I suspect that what my adult children are experiencing is not unique. If you work in a jail, prison, with the homeless or with the mentally ill, please tell me on my Facebook page if you are getting the protective gear that you need to do your jobs.

Meanwhile, thank you for your continued service to those who need your help.

God bless you. Stay safe.