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Full-Text Articles in Law
Committed To Commitment: The Problem With Washington State’S Involuntary Treatment Act, Hannah Garland
Committed To Commitment: The Problem With Washington State’S Involuntary Treatment Act, Hannah Garland
Washington Law Review
Washington State utilizes the Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) to civilly commit individuals experiencing behavioral health crises. Although civil commitment involves stripping away fundamental rights, it receives less attention than criminal incarceration. The ITA is meant to protect not just the general community, but also the rights of people with behavioral health disorders who utilize the ITA system. Yet, its implementation tells a different story. Individuals in King County are detained and committed repeatedly, without receiving consistent care. Furthermore, the ITA disproportionately impacts unhoused individuals and Black individuals. As the ITA continues to grow both in utilization and expense, other community-based …
Addressing Stigma And False Beliefs About Mental Health: A New Direction For Mental Health Parity Advocacy, Claire Sontheimer, Michael Ulrich
Addressing Stigma And False Beliefs About Mental Health: A New Direction For Mental Health Parity Advocacy, Claire Sontheimer, Michael Ulrich
Faculty Scholarship
Despite laws designed to protect mental health and substance use parity in the United States, real parity remains an aspiration. Under the current system, insurance companies use multiple tactics to deny coverage for or delay the provision of mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) treatment. The difficulty of enforcing parity creates a barrier to achieving the goal of accessible behavioral health services. Rather than a continued effort to legislate our way out of this conundrum, it may be useful to look further upstream. Critical impediments to achieving such parity include the basic attitudes and beliefs about mental and behavioral …