Litigation

People v. Britton.  Five years ago, the project succeeded in obtaining the conditional release of our client who had been confined following an acquittal by reason of insanity.  The statute governing such commitments provides that conditional release shall not exceed five years.  We are petitioning for an order of dismissal and unconditional release.

People v. Buchanan.  Out client was found unfit to stand trial on criminal charges and unlikely to ever become fit.  He is confined in a state mental hospital pursuant to Illinois' special restictive statute governing the confinement of unfit defendants.  We are:  (a) representing Mr. Buchanan in a re-commitment hearing and (b) claiming, in a petition for a writ of certiorari pending in the United States Supreme Court, that the terms of his confinement violate the Due Process Clause.

Filliung v. Department of Human Services.  Elgin Mental Health Center, one of the state psychiatric facilities, has adopted a large number of restrictions on the ability of patients to have property and control their own money.  We filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Cook County on behalf of several of these patients complaining that these restrictions violate the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code and, since they were not subject to notice and comment, the Administrative Procedure Act.  The Circuit Court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment from which decision we are presently appealing.

Kudzin v. Department of Human Services.  Elgin Mental Health Center, a state operated mental health facility, transferred our client to Chester Mental Health Center, a substantially more restrictive hospital 350 miles away without providing him with notice or an opportunity to object as required by the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Code and the Due Process Clause.  We have sought an injunction requiring his return unless our client is afforded the procedural protections to which he is entitled.

Legislation and Other Policy Projects

Mental Health Summit.  Three years ago the Project took a lead role in creating the Mental Health Summit, a coalition of all of the mental health advocacy and provider organizations in Illinois whose goals is to maintain and improve mental health services in the state.  Project students staff the Summit.  This work includes:  1) organizing monthly meetings; 2) maintaining the Summit website; 3) helping to organized two annual rallies (one in Springfield and one in Chicago); and, 4) drafting advocacy materials for the Summit's members.  Current efforts of the Summit include: 1) working to insure that the conversion of the community mental health system from grant funding to fee for service does not harm persons with mental illnesses; 2) insuring that state hospitals are not closed unless comprehensive plans are in place to porvide services in the community; 3) insuring access to appropriate medications; and, 4) working to move persons with mental illnesses out of nursing homes and into more integrated settings.

Persons with mental illnesses in the Criminal Justice System.   There are more persons with mental illness in the Cook County Jail (more than 1,000) than in any public or private mental hospital in Illinois.  There are more persons with mental illnesses in state prisons (at least 6,000) than in all of the public and private mental hospitals in the state combined.  Persons with mental illnesses do not get good mental health care in prisons and jails.  In coperation with many other groups including the Mental Health Association in Illinois, the John Howard Assocation, the Community Behavioral Health Assocation, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and Thresholds, Inc., the Project is working on several strategies for diverting persons with mental illnesses form the criminal justice system.  These include: 1) the creation of mental health courts; 2) connecting persons with mental illnesses in prisons and jails to assertive community treatment upon discharge; and 3) improved record sharing between the criminal justice and mental health systems.

Sex Offender Registration Law.  Illinois, like most states has a law requiring large numbers of people who have been convicted of various sex offenses to register their identity and location with local law enforcement.  Many persons with mental illnesses lack the ability to comply with these laws and are frequently arrested for failure to comply under circumstances strongly suggesting that, due to untreated mental illnesses, they either did not understand the nature of this requirement or they lacked the ability to comply consistently.  This has been a particular problem for persons who become homeless.  We are working to enact legislation or rules which require Illinois to provide reasonable accomodation for those persons who cannot comply due to a mental handicap.  Such accommodations might include a requirement that, if the person has been identified as having a serious mental illness prior to discharge, that an assessment be made of the person's ability to comply and provide such services as may be necessary to make compliance feasible.

Using Changes in the Commitment Standard to Improve Mental Health Services.  Illinois recently enacted legislation dramatically lowering the standard for involuntary commitment to a mental hospital.  Public Act 95-0602.  On behalf of our client Mental Health America of Illinois we are working with other organizations like the National Alliance for Mental Illinois of Illinois to use this law to improve access to services.  Our work has involved:  (1) drafting amendments to clarify the new law and improve record sharing among providers; (2) written communications to those who must implement the new law including law enforcement, prosecutors, hospitals and community providers:  (3) providing and facilitating training and providing training materials; (4) drafting forms to implement the new law; (5) drafting and advocating for legislation to expand the right to treatment; and (6) working with judges and others to improve commitment court proceedings.

Persons with mental illnesses in domestic violence proceedings.  There are large numbers of persons with mental illnesses who are respondents (and some who are petitioners) in proceedings to obtain orders of protection due to domestic violence.  There are no mechanisms to appropriately identify these persons and ensure that their mental illness is taken into account, if appropriate.  We will be working with judges in Cook County to identify ways to improve the way persons with mental illnesses are treated.