Oregon is considering changing the way people with mental illness are involved. New

Last year, Don Baglien's 19-year-old son had a psychotic breakup. It was a Sunday afternoon. He picked up the family picnic and threw it over the fence. Then he started opening all the faucets in the house, shuffling furniture outside and screaming.

"At the end of the evening, he was convinced that his air conditioner contained some sort of poison and released some kind of toxic chemical that was going to kill him. So, he unplugged it and he was going to roll it down the hill and get rid of it, "Baglien said.

Baglien called the Roseburg police and had him arrested for threatening. Baglien worked with the local behavioral health provider to help him. But since his son is an adult, he can no longer intervene and the situation gets worse.

"There were at least six or seven times where things were so unmanageable that it was obvious that he needed to find a bed where someone could watch him," said Baglien.

Although schizophrenia has been diagnosed, the 19-year-old does not accept that he is sick. Baglien tried to do this civilly by asking people to speak in front of a judge, claiming that it represented a danger to himself and to others – this is the legal standard in Oregon.

But during this procedure, his son understood enough to appear rational and calm, convincing the judge not to return him.

This often happens, according to Justice Pat Wolke of Josephine County.

"We are talking about people who will not benefit from voluntary treatment. Because they have a disease called anosognosia. And that means they are so sick that their ability to even understand that they are sick has been taken away from them, "said Wolke.

Civil engagement is a delicate issue for families and authorities. The way it works now is that when someone threatens a family member or runs through traffic screaming against cars, the police can block it. A county judge then decides whether it is a "danger to oneself or others".

But this legal standard has not been defined by the courts.

The process is rightly difficult. But many believe it has become so difficult for people to get help after breaking the law and committing criminal acts. So, Oregon is thinking about changing the way people with mental illness are civically engaged.

Chris Bouneff is suffering from a mental illness and leads the branch of the National Alliance for Mental Illness of Oregon (Oregon). He understands reluctance to civil engagement.

"It's not because we have a mental illness and we are symptomatic that we are stupid or talkative. I mean we have a sense of reality. We are able to understand, if we are in front of a judge, that I could lose my freedom, "Bouneff said.

Civil commitments have been so often lodged on appeal that the legal standard has become increasingly difficult to meet. For example, a threat of suicide is no longer sufficient to prove a danger, according to the courts. And any perceived danger must be "highly probable", and not only likely.

"We have reached a point where the bar is so high that the only way to get into the Oregon State Hospital, for example, is to be stopped. And we find that unacceptable, "said Bouneff.

He said that Senate Bill 763 is designed to decriminalize mental illness and is a minimal solution. The bill would define "dangerous to oneself or others" as "likely" to inflict serious harm in the next 30 days.

The bill also states that a threat of suicide can now be reviewed by a judge.

"We certainly do not want to open the floodgates. We do not want it to be so easy that we are abusing the civilian commitment. But the bar has to go down a bit because we are losing people, "said Bouneff.

But mental health people are far from united in supporting this bill.

Beckie Child was abused as a child and suffered from PTSD. She was also detained for civil engagement. She believes that the state should focus more on treating the early stages of mental illness instead of worrying about its civic engagement.

"We are doing so little to prevent people from getting into a crisis. And then, when they are in crisis, then we decide to do all those things that can really disrupt people's lives and cause a lot of harm, "said Child.

Senate Bill 763 comes from a working group formed by Wolke. He hopes the bill will mean more people will get help faster, instead of falling into crisis and receiving help only after their arrest.

He also thinks that this will save the state a lot of money.

"We prevent people from going to the emergency room several times. We prevent people from being arrested several times and going to jail, "said Wolke.

He was delighted last month when the tax office of the Oregon legislature found that the cost of the measure was "undetermined", probably avoiding a cost-based opposition.

But in this case, the Oregon Health Authority has added its own financial statement, stating that it may need to open a new unit at Oregon State Hospital to look after any new people who could be civilly engaged.

The OHA estimates the cost at about $ 20 million over four years.

Wolke was frustrated because this figure represents only part of the financial equation.

"Yes, it will save money in the correctional service. This will allow hospitals to save money and police services. But if it costs the Oregon Health Authority who wrote the tax impact statement a little more money, then they have the right to take a total of six with their tax impact statement – c 'is just crazy,' said Wolke.

He hoped that the departments that would save money under the bill submit their own statements of legislative impact.

The Oregon Department of Corrections agrees that if the bill passes, fewer people will likely be detained. But the ministry said it would be very difficult to calculate the exact savings.

Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers, who represents the Oregon Sheriff's Association, said the same thing was true for the prisons.

"I think lowering the bar would help some people and help our local communities in terms of resources and the release of resources," said Myers.

Apart from which department could save what under this bill, there is another argument that is simmering. It revolves around places where people with mental illness should be treated – in small community clinics or in a large facility like the Oregon State Hospital.

Sarah Radcliff, a lawyer for the rights of people with disabilities in Oregon, said the state hospital in Oregon was not the place to spend it.

"Spending $ 20 million over the next four years to increase the population of the Oregon State Hospital, these are sorely needed amounts of community support … long-term solutions such as supportive housing." and community mental health, "said Radcliffe.

In the meantime, despite broad agreement, the civil engagement process is broken, but the bill is being considered by the Ways and Means Committee as to how best to resolve it. It's hard to know if he'll ever get to the Senate.