Her experience was that when people go to the courts, it s often because systems have failed the individual and it s the process of last resort. There needs to be a better resolution to the problems of the system. It s the system which is failing more than the individual, but certainly one impacts the other. She also emphasized that the mental health system needs to look at other systems and work in tandem with them. There are valuable resources elsewhere which can offer helpful services to consumers of mental health.
Housing is but one example.
The payeeship mechanism is another service which too often works in a very coercive manner. It can be a process to get someone to do something, not necessarily to help someone get better. Access to services is another issue, such as, how much service does one receive, where is the service being provided, how is the parity among services, among other issues. She emphasized that if these things don t work, the rest truly does not matter.