ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. NJ LEGISLATURE PASSES INVOLUNTARY OUTPATIENT COMMITMENT
BILL
2. STATE WANTS TO DISBAND GREYSTONE MONITORING COMMITTEE
3. INNOVATIVE PROGRAM AT UMDNJ PROVIDES CARE FOR MIND AND
BODY
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NJ LEGISLATURE PASSES INVOLUNTARY OUTPATIENT COMMITMENT
BILL
The Involuntary Outpatient Commitment bill (S735/A1618)
was passed by the State Assembly and Senate on June 25th
and now goes to the Governor or his signature. The bill
will take effect one year after it is signed into law and
be phased in over a three-year period. Seven counties will
be selected to implement outpatient commitment each year.
When signed into law the bill would permit court ordered
commitment to outpatient treatment for individuals who due
to a mental illness are determined to present a danger to
themselves or others in the reasonably foreseeable future
due to psychiatric deterioration. The bills pass 37-0 in
the Assembly and 76-0 in the Senate.
View the bill:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/S1000/735_R2.HTM
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STATE WANTS TO DISBAND GREYSTONE MONITORING COMMITTEE
The state wants a 32-year-old court-appointed Greystone
watchdog group to be disbanded, saying the woes at the state
psychiatric hospital in Parsippany that caused the creation
of the unique Doe vs. Klein Monitoring Committee in 1977
no longer exist. But a patients' rights group says having
the committee's "independent eyes and ears'' is a good
thing for the patients and the public at a taxpayer-financed
facility that is mostly closed to public scrutiny, and called
for its work to continue at least a while longer.
Read more:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/morris/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1246196112324100.xml&coll=1
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INNOVATIVE PROGRAM AT NEWARK UMDNJ PROVIDES CARE FOR MIND
AND BODY
The life expectancy for people with serious mental illness
is 25 years lower than it is for the general population
-- a fact attributable not to suicide or accident rates,
but to preventable illness including cardiovascular disease,
diabetes and asthma. Now they can head to the new Yaffa
Rose Integrated Care Center, located on the ground floor
of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's
facility. Funded by an anonymous donor, the center is among
the first programs in the country to provide on-site medical
care for patients receiving treatment for mental illness,
and represents a national push to integrate mental and physical
health care.
Read more:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-14/124586071979180.xml&coll=1
