xxAACP Newsletter, Volume 12,
Number 2, Spring 1998
President's Column: Crazy Times
I hope that by the time this edition of the newsletter reaches the membership, the two bills in Congress will have failed ingloriously; S 10 and HR 3206. S 10 creates federal law that will lead the country in diminishing the status of juveniles in our justice system as individuals to be protected and treated. It will lead the way to placing them in the hands of adult courts and adult prisons. Earlier we had seen legistlation proposed in states and nationally which actively facilitated imposing the death penalty for crimes committed by an individual under 18. There is no patience in our national policy frenzy for addressing the tough questions about juvenile crime. We have not captured the interest of our neighbors in research which documents significant rates of mental disorders in adjudicated youth. Bipolar Affective Disorder is now at risk of being treated with the same disrespect by those who watch over sensational cases as has been ADHD or various dissociative disorders. It seems the public wants to see those who misbehave brought down in humiliation, and if they are already down, they want them beaten down further.
HR 3206 proposes amendments to the Fair Housing Act. These are proposed as corrections to this major piece of civil rights legislation, which are supposedly aimed at balancing the needs of communities for having more local control over zoning. What it will do is enable our neighbors to block the placement of small group homes in our residential communities for diabled individuals, those recovering from drug and alcohol problems and troubled youth. A social agency serving emotionally disturbed teenagers attempted to open a small well supervised group home in a wealthy suburb in my county. Their kids needed a community placement near good schools, parks and healthy social activities. The local municipality blocked the opening of the facility claiming it violated zoning laws. The attorneys for the social agency successfully argued that the actions of the municipality violated the Fair Housing Act. I was scheduled to testify in this case and, though it proved unnecessary, I reviewed depositions depicting grossly misplaced fears from average folks towards children who had been neglected, abused and cast out. The community wanted to continue to keep them cast out. Thank God for the Fair Housing Act. But the suburban community's frightened Congresswoman, in concert with others facing similarly frightened constituencies, began to draft legislation to undo the federal law, specifically as it relates to our patients. HR 3206 will effect homes for the mentally ill, drug and alcohol recovery houses and could even be interpreted as banning some foster homes because of provisions enabling cities to limit living arrangements between "unrelated individuals," a concept with draconian implications. This bill came out of subcommittee without a hearing and at the time of this writing, it is before the House Judiciary Committee.
There are many other pieces of legislation these days which disturb those of us who see ourselves as community advocates. This is terribly demoralizing for those of us who want to enhance the collective taking of responsibility for social problems. Why can't our communities treat problems long neglected in our society with benign good spirit and generosity? Why do we ever more criminalize mental illness and place our patients in prisons and juvenile detention facilities? Our communities seem lost in fear and confusion and badly in need of leadership to understand the social and emotional dynamics that conspire to create horrid headlines.
Those of us in the AACP represent a pool of leaders ideally suited to join in such community leadership. As a relatively small organization we can only do so much, but as individuals who are connected into community systems, we can have considerable influence in shaping local discussions if we would only try. We need to offer ourselves as resources at home to be interviewed on the radio and TV and be willing to sit with staffers for our state and local legislators. We must act as community psychiatrists but in concert with our local psychiatric societies and other mental health organizations. Nationally, the AACP has affiliated itself solidly with such professional and advocacy groups as NAMI, NMHA, Ortho, and the NCCBHC. Recently we have been part of the e-mail discussion and action groups of the Children's Defense Fund and the Bazelon Center, two sterling organizations tactically sophisticated in the legislative arena. I have relayed e-mail notes on child and adolescent issues to those on the Child and Adolescent Committee and some to others with specific interests. I am proposing that we form issues oriented interest groups within the structure of our committees and use e-mail to its full advantage, both to keep members informed and also to leverage our interests by associating with broader advocacy groups. Our role in such groups should be to aid in concept development and to lend our physician's prestige to the collective efforts.
This is a time of great need for raising the public's consciousness regarding issues of the brain, the mind and their health. There is such ignorance and fear in our communities regarding those we care for daily. It is our responsibility as professionals and as citizens to offer our wisdom and our compassionate leadership to our friends and neighbors in a renewed movement of social responsibility.
Charles Huffine, MD
President, AACP
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