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We need a better plan

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Illinois

* We really need to do better on mental health treatment at every level in this country…

The man who drove his SUV through the Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg last month had been released from a mental health facility the previous day, still suffering from hallucinations, hearing voices and having suicidal thoughts, relatives say.

Javier Garcia, 22, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder three years ago and has been in and out of mental health facilities since then, his sister Noemi Garcia told the Sun-Times Wednesday.

“Just in the last two months my brother has been to three different inpatient centers,” she said.

“After a week they would release him, with Javier still coming home to us telling us that he didn’t feel safe, that he still kept hearing voices, that he still had suicidal thoughts and it’s just like an every day battle,” she said. […]

Interruptions to Medicaid coverage also were a hurdle to getting help, she said.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 12:22 pm

Comments

And they’re charging him with terrorism???

Comment by NoGifts Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 12:27 pm
Imagine being this person…frightened to death …in critical need of help…in a country that does not seem to care…enough to help…the shame is ours.

Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 12:33 pm
This poor kid needs help.

Where can we find the funding for properly staffed dedicated facilities?

If it isn’t prioritized get ready for more stories like this one.

Comment by SSL Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 12:34 pm
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, mental health advocates are wrestling with the Pritzker Administration over a measly 2.5% COLA granted to providers. They were expecting between 7-9% bump from all the mh dough that Harris, Steans stuffed in the budget. Just because lawmakers do the right thing, doesn’t agencies follow through. Same ‘ole, same ‘ole.

Comment by King Louis XVI Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 12:36 pm
Despite the name, the acts fit the letter of the Illinois terrorism statute but do not fit its spirit. Yes he caused more than $100k damage to a building with 5 or more businesses, but it seems clear he did not have the intent to commit the act or to intimidate civilians. It also seems clear he needs to be treated and at least temporarily institutionalized rather than imprisoned. I hope the authorities and the judge act appropriately here.

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 12:46 pm
Fixing this starts with cutting Ken Griffin’s taxes and then asking him to build a mental health facility that he can put his name on.

Who better to solve our state’s and nation’s problems than the plutocrats who help create them?

Comment by Moe Berg Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 12:50 pm
The terrorism charge is brain-dead and illiterate. The terrorism law requires “intent to intimidate or coerce a significant portion of a civilian population.” 720 ILCS 5/29D-14.9(a). I don’t see how the State can establish Mr. Garcia intended to intimidate or coerce the civilian population, especially given his mental health. I saw a couple news pushing a part of the statute that deal with property damage over $100,000, but that is secondary to the specific mens rea required to commit the terrorism offense. The FBI declined to investigate the act as terrorism, and the local police don’t support the charge either. The Jussie Smollett affair was one thing, but if this is the way the CCSAO is going to operate, then I am going to look for new leadership for the office.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 12:55 pm
Aw, Kim Foxx, your heart is so big….for the connected people.

Comment by amalia Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 12:57 pm
Article is unfortunately light on specifics as to why his treatment has gone the way it has. Something with Medicaid, something with these inpatient centers. Would be good to hear from a center, though am sure would say nothing under HIPAA.

More immediately, how on earth could this man have access to car keys? Think those would be in the same bucket as guns, knives, etc.

Comment by The Big Salad Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 1:13 pm
@amalia, raises the question few seem to be asking: How is the blatant overcharging in this case in keeping with Kim Foxx’s warm-and-fuzzy criminal justice reform push? I don’t get it.

Comment by Telly Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 1:14 pm
As others have said, MH providers still are waiting on what was suppose to be 10% COLA but were given 2.5%. These are the same providers who went months without payment from the Rauner gang but yet they are suppose to eat the cost of keeping people in treatment.

Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 1:17 pm
Any parent or family member able to take care of a relative with mental illness will usually do so. When they can’t, it falls to society. No problem with that. But in the least friendly tax state, you would think there would be adequate resources. Sadly we all know there isn’t.

So now what? What do you say JB? Where does this land on your list of priorities.

Comment by SSL Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 1:20 pm
What a sad story this has become? Now I see a person who really needs treatment and he’s been put out into the world.

Comment by Levois J Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 1:32 pm
Thank goodness for consent decrees that will allow him to access mental health treatment while in prison. Though our political leadership has been an abject failure over decades in funding services to people with disabilities, we are fortunate that some have gone to the effort and expense to sue the state to force them to make minor improvements. Lawsuits are the only thing that has ever moved the needle here.

Comment by Earnest Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 1:44 pm
He is being overcharged because it happened in Woodfield
Not saying it is racist but sure as heck is economic and where it happened. It is asinine
Family should sue mental health provider for releasing him. He was definition of “danger to himself or others”

Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 1:55 pm
So true about the need for better policies and investments. Good place in Illinois to start is the Kennedy Forum and nationally Mental Health for US (now with 65 organizations). We need a better plan with more leadership to make the right investments locally.

Comment by West Wing Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 2:02 pm
=== How is the blatant overcharging in this case in keeping with Kim Foxx’s warm-and-fuzzy criminal justice reform push?===

If you beat up some random person on the street, you’re entitled to a presumption of innocence, bail, and all the government resources you can consume. If you have a mental illness, you have to waste away in prison.

For a high profile case like this, the decisions are all made by the front office. The ASA does not really control any of it.

What’s worse it’s probably some vain attempt to look tough on crime before the election. The CCSAO can pile on some infirmed kid from the suburbs so everyone can forget all the actual unintended consequences of her policies.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 2:18 pm
It’s a good thing that the vast majority of persons with mental illness are not a danger to others because the care in this state is beyond horrid and has been for the better part of the last 40 years (and before). It’s not just a lack of adequate funding but it’s also about so-called advocates who care more about abstract legal principles than about the safety and well-being of people with mental illness. arguing for giving a person with a thought disorder the right to make rational decisions when they don’t have that capacity.

Comment by NeverPoliticallyCorrect Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 3:00 pm
America, including IL has never included mental health as health care. Fix the buster arm but not the noggin. Start there.

Comment by Annonin' Thursday, Oct 3, 19 @ 3:50 pm