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NetQuarterLatte t1_itw0kcd wrote

Reply to comment by elizabeth-cooper in More Than 104,000 New York City Students Were Homeless Last Year by Lilyo

Some people need to be helped.

But what is unsaid is that the individual is often not the only person who needs that help to happen. The public also needs it.

If it’s only for the individual’s benefit, maybe there’s a liberty/freedom argument here that they should be allowed to refuse help.

But in many of those cases, the need is also in the public interest.

And the balance of one individuals rights and the public’s rights need to enter into consideration.

In many of the cases we often hear about, I don’t think they should be allowed to refuse help.

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09-24-11 t1_itxfjwy wrote

There are mental hygiene laws in place against involuntary hospitalizations for a reason. It is a very slippery slope to have untrained mental health professionals (police) having the power to involuntarily bring someone to inpatient mental health facilities. The hospitals also don’t have the beds to house everyone, so a lot are discharged from triage right back to the streets.

It’s not a question of whether or not someone wants the accept the help. We already have laws and procedures in place for those people. Enforcing, processing and placing those people, is the challenge. Police need more credits in clinical mental health, we need more hospitals beds, DAs and public defenders who will work to process these cases, and safe, sanitary, and audited long term housing for these people.

TLDR: We need more money going to the right places.

  • Mental health worker for over 10 years.
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