Involuntary Commitment (IVC) or Temporary Detention Order (TDO) 

This petition will be presented to Congress. JOIN THE FIGHT!

Have you ever had a family member or friend dealing with a mental illness? Have you ever dealt with a mental health crisis? No matter what you answered you’re able to acknowledge that the process should be beneficial and not traumatizing. 

Imagine attempting to help a family member or friend by calling for assistance and being told nothing can be done. If they do not pose a threat to themselves or others no one can come to the location. You know they need help right? You know they could be a harm to themselves. Or maybe they could very well be a harm to others. If the officer “untrained” in mental health arrives and does not agree they leave. They cannot take someone’s human rights. It’s unconstitutional. That makes sense and is understandable. But the officers are not trained to evaluate them. The person is so afraid of the process that they deny anything is wrong. Prolonging their options for help. What are you advised to do? Your options are limited. You’re told to go to the city jail, and have the magistrate place an IVC order for them to be detained. Sounds like the stress is lifted right? Nope!

The order sends several officers to pick up the individual. Search and handcuff them. Walk them to the police car in front of the neighborhood, place the handcuffed patient in the backseat, drive them to the hospital, parade them through the hospital and often times handcuff them to the bed. Displaying the same process as someone who robbed a liquor store.

Decriminalizing the feel of the process will give those suffering in silence a fighting chance. That fighting chance could not only show them they’re safe, it takes the humiliation, shame, embarrassment, harsh treatment and demeaning of a human life away. 

Laws need to change. Stigmas need to change. People need to be treated as people with a medical crisis, the same as a cancer, lupus, diabetic situation, and heart disease patient. All illnesses are critical, and need the same level of humanization. 

What if you called 911 for help. You tell them your mother or grandmothers having a stroke. Instead of the ambulance, the cops show up, search and handcuff her, make her walk to the car, place her in the backseat, parade her through the emergency room, and handcuff her to the bed.  What if it were you? Would the process stop your stroke? Or would the humiliation, confusion, and time loss intensify your illness? Would that process make logical sense? Of course not.

When we receive care the walls have bright pictures. Bubbly staff, acceptable bedside manner, visitors to sit with us, hold our hands, or make us laugh to relieve the stress. That’s OUR experience. Now Imagine the hospital having dull colorless walls. No pictures that show cheer or signs of life. No access to the world’s natural oxygen that keeps the body and brain pumping. That’s THEIR experience.

Continue to imagine your cancer, lupus, diabetic, or heart patient mother or grandmother are stuck on one floor. Once she’s invited to the outside it’s a closet size area with a fence so high you can only look up to see the sky. Detained again, but not only mentally…physically too. Of course there should be safety measures in place, however, they should be to protect all. Mentally, psychologically, and physically. 

A CHANGE is needed:
The REQUEST is for 911 to provide a separate line for mental health crisis. A line for reporting only mental health needs. Dispatch an ambulance, a plain clothes officer, and a mental health professional for evaluating the human in need of medical treatment. All of whom have received the proper mental health training, and have been certified in the process, procedures, and safety guidelines. If additional treatment is recommended, the ambulance will transport the patient to the hospital. For severe, escalated issues, a plain clothes officer will accompany the patient and medical responders in the ambulance. From that point medical responders and hospital staff will handle the patient the same as any patient seeking treatment within a hospital. 

Hospitals employ their own security personnel to handle patient and staff safety issues. Or use the staffed/on duty emergency room police officers. If they are not trained in mental health response, train and certify them. At that point they are equipped to handle escalated issues if one should arise. The plain clothes officer can then be released to regular duty once the patients in the hands of the hospital employed security personnel or officer on duty. 

This action decreasing the humiliation and disciplinary action approach. It allows us to relay a different message. A message that states “health issues are treated equal, all who experience a health emergency will be treat as a patient verses a criminal.” 

Benefits of a process change:

1. Decriminalizes health emergencies 
2. Saves lives by adding a caring option for treatment 
3. Decreases or controls our homeless population and allows individuals a less harsh option when seeking help, which decreases the fear and anxiety of the process
4. Lowers the risk of causing additional trauma 
5. Allows police officers the opportunity to patrol and protect the community verses up to 8 hours of driving the patient to each designated location
6. Presents an open door policy to freely express alarming suicidal thoughts without being afraid of punishment
7. Helps prevent suicide attempts

I’m prepared to help and support these individuals. Are you? All you need to do is add your signature. That’s the first step to change. You read it right? Sign it. VA, NC and all states who use this process need to hear a change is needed. If you battle with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychosis and the list goes on… This could be your story. Time for CHANGE!

Thank you for making a difference,