Law Commons^™

Zoning For The Mentally Ill: A Legislative Mandate, Deborah A. Schmedemann

Faculty Scholarship

Under the aegis of President John Kennedy, Congress first began to concern itself with the needs of the mentally ill over two decades ago. Bills providing for community mental health centers and congregate housing have appeared subsequently to attempt to expedite integration of the mentally ill into community life. These congressional mandates, however, have met with reluctance-if not hostility. While federal law makers have been the champion of deinstitutionalization, they have placed responsibility for implementation of their programs on the state and local levels. There, local governmental authorities have reacted defensively to exclude the mentally ill from their neighborhoods, primarily …