Currently the state of affairs in most of America is the largest provider of mental health treatment is the jail/prison system. Mental illness and substance addiction have been criminalized since Reagan.
Yes, almost 40 years worth and it also kickstarted the phenomenon of chronic homelessness in America. It’s been further exacerbated by the destruction of the healthcare system and perpetual gutting of the social safety net (SS, Medicare, Medicaid) aka it’s all the @GOP’s fault.
Absolutely and FL is a good case study. They have a Baker Act that mandates a 72 hour inpatient psychiatric evaluation, yet they don’t have enough inpatient beds or places to send chronically homeless people or those who need 30-90 day residential substance treatment @ discharge.
Once again this is an instance where Kamala rolls out a plan with laser focus on helping the marginalized communities most affected by austere public policy and people who’ve been fortunate enough to not need such a plan have a meltdown.
This is an instance where America’s mental healthcare system crisis intersects with its criminal justice system crisis, yet folk are tying themselves into knots to delegitimize professionals who’ve dedicated their careers to working within those systems to change them for better.
These problems didn’t just start with Trump or GWB, they’ve been in the works for the last 55 years of American politics, and the basic outlines haven’t changed b/c the mainstream still won’t grant legitimacy to people who’ve been on the right side of history this whole time.
If you’ve managed to survive the last 4 decades without a life or death mental/behavioral health crisis befalling you or your family/friends, congratulations to y’all but that’s increasingly no longer the reality and it’s ignorant to keep pretending otherwise in this day and age.
Regardless of your good fortune, there are millions of ppl (mostly from marginalized groups and regions) who are enduring the absolute worst aspects of what our failing public systems have to offer. They need help now and they need leaders who’ve actually been there, done that.
Kamala Harris' Mental Healthcare Plan Calls for Ending Solitary Confinement, Expanding Services for People of Color theroot.com/kamala-harris-… via @TheRoot #HumanityIsOnTheBallot
Kamala’s Plan to Address the Mental Health Care Crisis and Provide Mental Health Care on Demand | Full Policy kamalaharris.org/policies/menta…
Indeed and it’s a function of familiarity (or lack thereof) with the obstacles/risks involved in trying to obtain compassionate healthcare in America, particularly during mental/behavioral health crises. The whole issue is a socioeconomic, race and gender disparity rolled in one.
Check out the audience response when Kamala talks about taking mental health out of the shadows and how “America’s treating our prison system like one big mental health facility”. usatoday.com/videos/news/na… via @USATODAY #MentalHealthJusticeIsOnTheBallot
