Local FACTSJustice Alliance, a new program funded by Prop 63 funds has hired two professionals to act as a liaison between mental health and the court system in the various jurisdictions of the County
Negotiations are in progress to re-establish a mental health courts in both North and South parts of the County. This linkage is critical for the dually diagnosed whose substance abuse problems tend to land them in jail or prison regardless of their mental & emotional condition.
FACT???? We want to know whether or not someone is entitled to a copy of their own or their family member's police report--whether it is or it isn't "public record". (If anyone knows the answer to this question, please let us know--as those who are supposed to know don't!)
California FACTS:
The medical (including the mental health) system in our state prisons is so totally broken that its administration was given into receivership, following a lawsuit filed against Schwartzeneger.
Harold Shabo, a Judge in the Mental Health Departments of the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County addressed a gathering in Santa Barbara in November of 2001 on the topic of the phenomenon of the "criminalization" of persons with mental illness. According to Shabo, the institutional unwillingness to treat persons with co-occurring mental disorders and substance abuse or addiction leads to recidivism and too often to death.
A 2001 USA Today story recounted a San Luis Obispo couple's struggle to get treatment for their son. In 1999, their story was told in "Back to Bedlam," an NBC News one-hour special about the criminalization of the mentally ill.
National FACTS:
U.S. federal, state and local governments have spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to make America "drug-free." Yet heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illicit drugs are cheaper, purer and easier to get than ever before. Nearly half a million people are behind bars on drug charges - more than all of western Europe (with a bigger population) incarcerates for all offenses. The war on drugs has become a war on families, a war on public health and a war on our constitutional rights. (from www.drugpolicy.org)
NAMI, The National Alliance on Mental Illness began in 1979 to provide a voice for people living with mental illnesses and their families. The organization is now active in every state and has 1,100 local chapters. Visit www.NAMI.org or www.NAMIcalifornia.org
The Montana Meth Project has been running a series of shocking TV and Radio advertisements designed to prevent youth from ever trying methamphetamines. The project was funded by a millionaire who moved to Montana and became buddies with the Sheriff.
HBO, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the National Institute on Drug Addiction (NIDA), and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), has produced an unprecedented multi-media campaign aimed at helping Americans understand addiction as a treatable brain disease, as well as spotlighting new medical advancements.
For the first time, HBO will use all of its digital platforms, including the HBO main service, multiplex channels, HBO On Demand, podcasts, web streams, and DVD sales. The major components of the ADDICTION Project are:
• groundbreaking 14-part documentary film series;
• companion book - published by Rodale Press (available March 6, 2007);
• large and comprehensive website on addiction, treatment and recovery at hbo.com - (launching March 5);
• Four independent addiction-themed films;
• $2 million national media campaign to promote the show and its themes; and
• grassroots outreach and community mobilization project organizing town meetings and house-parties in cities and towns nationwide.The ADDICTION project targets anyone concerned about addiction: addicted individuals themselves, or their family and friends -- all of whom are searching for a better understanding of what addiction is and how to find effective treatment.
