LOUISVILLE, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — Mental health advocates and lawmakers gathered in Louisville on Monday to celebrate a new Kentucky law they say will give courts more tools to help people living with mental illness. The intent is to help people get treatment before their condition becomes a full-blown crisis.
The reform expands treatment options beyond the previous framework, which often left courts choosing between involuntary hospitalization or releasing a person following a mental health evaluation. Under the old law, courts could typically only intervene if a person posed an immediate danger to themselves or others.
Kelly Gunning, who leads the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Lexington, said that standard left her family without options as her son's condition worsened.
"He kept getting sicker and sicker until he broke in our house one morning and tried to kill my husband and I," Gunning said.
Gunning told the crowd that despite visible signs of serious mental illness, she could not get her son the help he needed.
"My son wouldn't eat because his food was poisoned. He walked around in heat like today - 98 degrees - with all of his winter clothes on at once, barefooted. The skin of his feet was coming off his feet. That wasn't dangerous enough," Gunning said.
Kentucky's new law provides courts with a third option. It allows the courts to order outpatient treatment with specific requirements, including the taking of prescribed medication. Lawmakers say the change is designed to help people get care before their condition reaches the point of requiring involuntary hospitalization.
Rep. Kim Moser, a co-sponsor of the mental health reform legislation, said the previous system too often left vulnerable people without support.
"Often times, we see individuals put back out on the street with no resources or they are sent back into their existing situation with no help at all. So, the goal is to get individuals the appropriate level of care," Moser said.
Lawmakers who led the reform effort say the new law will help people receive appropriate care while protecting their constitutional rights. They also emphasize that connecting people with appropriate treatment keeps public safety at the forefront.
The passage of the law raised Kentucky's grade from the Treatment Advocacy Center from a C+ to an A+. Rep. Jason Nemes, the primary sponsor of the mental health reform law, said this makes Kentucky number one in the nation "for civil commitment and outpatient treatment laws."
"This legislation is a great example of what can happen when people come to the table willing to listen, work together and find common ground," Nemes said.
The reform was first presented as HB 485, but it ultimately passed as SB 122.
