Hatboro-Based State Rep. Murt: Outpatient Mental Health Treatment Is Vital

The following letter to the editor was submitted to the Hatboro-Horsham Patch by local state Congressman Thomas Murt (R-152). To submit a letter to the editor, email justin.heinze@patch.com.

Every day, thousands of people across the Commonwealth voluntarily seek and receive mental health care.

But for the many Pennsylvanians who have a serious mental illness and are too ill to recognize that they need help, our system is fundamentally broken. All too often, the result of someone not getting help is tragedy: hospitalization, incarceration, homelessness, substance abuse, violence, and suicide.

Under existing state law, it is not possible to mandate inpatient treatment or to commit someone for residential mental health treatment until a person poses a “clear and present danger” to himself or to someone else.

This means the person with a mental illness must be actively harming himself, another person, or attempt suicide.

While Pennsylvania allows for a part-time commitment to outpatient mental health treatment, the standard for outpatient treatment is the same as it is for a mandated commitment to inpatient or residential treatment. A lower standard for outpatient treatment will provide more opportunities for Pennsylvanians who have a mental illness to get help.

Even if the family endures the agonizing process of waiting for their loved one to deteriorate enough to meet the standard that warrants mandated treatment in a hospital, in many cases, there are not enough psychiatric hospital beds available. Pennsylvania only has 30 percent of the beds necessary to meet the needs of its population with severe mental illness. Even if a bed is available, people are too frequently discharged as soon as they are no longer a clear or present danger, but not truly well, and as a result, they often will start the tragic cycle all over again.

Law enforcement frequently has to tell a family who calls them that they cannot lawfully intervene until a loved one is in serious danger. In this way, we are criminalizing mental illness.

Consider this: In Pennsylvania, a person with a mental illness is twice as likely to end up in prison as receive treatment. Consequently, the Department of Corrections is the largest provider of mental health services in the Commonwealth. Too frequently, by placing police officers on the front lines of a mental health crisis, the outcome is tragedy. People with severe mental illness are 16 times more likely to be killed during a police encounter than other civilians approached or stopped by police officers. We have the Pennsylvania version of a mental health ‘Catch 22’ but it does not have to be this way.

Most other states have already moved away from focusing on dangerousness as a pre-condition to receiving outpatient treatment. I have written legislation that changes our current laws and lower the standard to require people with a mental illness to enter outpatient treatment before they become a clear and present danger and anyone is hurt. If we do that, we provide better, more timely treatment, and we stop making mental illness a crime.

Independent studies of assisted outpatient treatment programs have shown that this type of intervention significantly reduces hospitalization, incarceration, and homelessness while saving the public service system money and resources. The Federal Departments of Health and Human Services and Justice have recognized these outpatient interventions as effective, evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for people with severe mental illness. This year, the Federal government funded a national assisted outpatient treatment grant program to encourage implementation, but these are funds Pennsylvania can’t access under our existing clear and present danger criteria.

While assisted outpatient treatment requires individuals to receive care on an outpatient basis in the community, it actually enhances the civil liberties of individuals with serious mentally illness by helping to prevent the need for involuntary inpatient hospitalization or incarceration. In addition, by significantly reducing the need for inpatient treatment, it will enable the Commonwealth to achieve a better balance between the limited supply of psychiatric state hospital beds and those individuals who need that service.

It is time for Pennsylvania to update our out-of-date laws for those who need mental health treatment. My legislation will amend the law so our families, doctors, hospitals, and police will have the tools they need to help stop this destructive cycle impacting so many our loved ones with serious mental illness. On Thursday, September 22nd at 7:00 p.m., I will be hosting a program at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 505 N. York Road, Hatboro that will discuss ‘Options on Seeking Help for Someone in a Mental Health Crisis.’ I will have some professionals in the field as well as a police officer there to discuss these topics. The public cordially invited to attend.

Rep. Thomas Murt represents the 152nd Legislative District. He is Chairman of the Human Services Subcommittee on Mental Health.

Image courtesy Rep. Murt's office.