Jared Loughner's behavior never reported to mental health authorities: official

[cali]

By Brigid Schulte

Despite mounting concerns about his bizarre and disturbing behavior, local mental health authorities in Pima County, Ariz. said Monday that no one reported any concerns to them about Tucson mass shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner.

Loughner is accused of shooting 20 people on Saturday, killing six and wounding 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D).

"To the best of our knowledge, he was never and is currently not enrolled in our system," said Neal Cash, president of the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, the organization that provides mental health services to Tucson and Pima County for the state.

The majority of the people they serve are on Medicare, Cash said, but anyone diagnosed with a serious mental illness would be in their system and eligible for services. Despite severe cutbacks in the state mental health budget as a result of the foreclosure crisis and recession - Cash estimates around $50 million has been cut in the last two fiscal years - he said that no one diagnosed seriously mentally ill has been turned down for services.

Arizona has what is considered one of the most progressive mental health laws in the country. Any person, including any of the students in Loughner's classes who exchanged worried emails about his strange actions or any of his teachers who sought to have him removed or who wanted him to receive treatment, could have petitioned the court to have him evaluated for mental illness.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2011/01/jared-loughners-behavior-never.html

[GSLevel9]

1. in the police's multiple run-in's with Loughner.... it never dawned on them? nt

[eleny]

2. I'm interested in what his family has to say, too

[bettyellen]

8. 90% of the people they see are so distraught, it's impossible to expect them to take this on

they;d have to recommend half their victims get help too. lots of people suddenly think the sheriff should have done something. it doesn't work that way. if this kid had a lawyer and didn;t want help, he doesn't get it.

[dkf]

3. Wow they even have lower standards to have people committed.

"Unlike other states, which require that someone be an imminent danger to themselves or others before seeking to have them involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluation and treatment, in Arizona, one need only be "persistently or acutely" ill."

[kestrel91316]

4. Nobody can enroll a person in a mental health program without their

knowledge and consent, unless they are under court order.

"Reporting" a crazy person to the authorities accomplishes exactly nothing unless that person is an immediate danger to his own or someone else's life that very minute.

[cali]

11. it is quite easy to get someone evaluated in Arizona

and even to put them on a 72 hour hold.

[kestrel91316]

5. Just peachy - for those who WANT mental health services. I kinda think he didn't.

[Dappleganger]

6. And if they don't want it...

unfortunately the only thing a friend or family member can do is wait until there is a clear psychotic incident, call 911 and the police will make that determination on the scene (or paramedics).

Unfortunately we are also stuck between a rock and a hard place with a family member.

[mdmc]

7. what do you think would happen if his behavior was reported?

Why is it progressive that "anyone" can file a petition on "anyone" to be evaluated for MI (mental illness). Does AZ offer any help to those who do have MI?

[cali]

12. it's not progressive

and yes, AZ does offer help to those with mental illness- as do all states.

[LisaL]

9. I wonder as to what was his family thinking?

Did they not notice anything peculiar about his behavior?

[jody]

10. Were people derelict in not reporting incidents “Everyone should be vigilant, take notice of your

surroundings, and report suspicious items or activities to local authorities immediately.”

Source http://www.dhs.gov/files/reportincidents/counterterrorism.shtm