by Marilyn Rodgers

Created on: December 24, 2006   Last Updated: April 19, 2007

Homelessness is ever-present. But when mental illness is factored in, this crisis becomes even more of a catastrophe.

The National Institute of Mental Health defines the homeless mentally ill adult population as individuals, age 18 or older, who have long-term severe mental illness and no fixed place of residence or those who are at imminent risk of becoming homeless, living in temporary quarters like rooming houses, where they are bounced from site to site or evicted without proper notification and chance to find other housing...

In the early 1800's those with mental health conditions were either kept at home or placed in jails. And, although we have certain elements at work in the 21st century - like New York State's Kendra's Law, these same conditions of the 1800's seem to exist now in today's communities.

Kendra's law addresses outpatient treatment programs, responsibility of social workers, psychologists, and courts to petition for outpatient treatment, training programs for those providing the outpatient treatment for supreme and county court judges, court personnel, and law enforcement, more reports and evaluations on effectiveness of outpatient treatment - the usual yada - yada - yada that addresses the need but seems to be unrecognized by the responsible parties for a myriad of reasons.

As a result, accountability for placement of those in outpatient treatment programs falling under Kendra's Law is nil. Additionally, this attention to outpatient treatment that doesn't seem to be working in Buffalo, NY and other US cities does nothing to address the need for inpatient treatment. And, we witness it every day on the streets of our city.

The total number of individuals with active symptoms of schizophrenia or manic-depressive illness is some 3.5 million. 40% of these folks - roughly 1.4 million - are not receiving treatment in any given year.

They're out on the streets, sleeping in public spaces, in vacant houses, having addresses they hardly go to, or where they are not monitored, where they are abused either by the other tenants or even the landlords.

A 1998 MacArthur Foundation study found that seriously mentally ill individuals committed twice as many acts of violence in the period immediately prior to their hospitalization, when they were not taking medication, compared with the post hospitalization period when most of them were taking medication.

Those who self-medicate with drugs or alcohol - or - are known to have violent tendencies are not permitted services

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