Sunday September 28, 2008, 12:34 pm
This officer should not only be disciplined, but should also face the same charges a person who abandons a child would receive.

Monday September 29, 2008, 6:18 am
Thank you, Paige, for this article. It shows plainly that the mentally ill are often considered a "problem" for municipalities to rid themselves of, rather than as citizens needing and deserving assistance. I have read of some cities giving free food and new clothes to homeless persons who were willing to accept a one-way bus ticket away from the city.

I believe most mentally dysfunctional persons could function well if they received proper treatment. However, I noticed in the article that the officer said the homeless man was not "an immediate threat to himself and others." Until and unless a mental patient meets that rigid standard, he simply will not receive treatment unless he has the wherewithall to request it. Even then, psychiatric services may or may not be available in his area. I believe that all homeless mental patients should meet the "danger to self" standard.

Eating out of garbage cans is a "danger to self"

Sleeping outside in all kinds of weather should meet the criteria of "danger."

Many of our returning veterans from recent wars are having difficulty adjusting to civilian life. Some are having a hard time finding employment. Many veterans suffer PTSD.

Here is a recent article which reports that the homeless rate in America is down:

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/u-s-reports-drop-homeless-population

According to the article, the Bush Administration reports a 30% decrease in the homeless population, due in part to a new "housing first" strategy. Excerpt:

". . . officials also attribute much of the decline to a policy shift promoted by Congress and the administration that has focused federal and local resources on finding stable housing for homeless people suffering from drug addiction, mental illness or physical disabilities, long deemed the hardest to help in the homeless population.

Under the strategy, known as “housing first,” local officials have over the last eight years increasingly placed the chronically homeless into permanent shelter — apartments, halfway houses or rooms — and provided them with services for drug addiction, mental illness and health problems."

Our elected officials are to be commended for the "homeless first" strategy. This initiative is very needed.

No hard numbers were provided in the article to account for exactly how many persons were in that program as opposed to those who were off the street because of incarceration, however, which is also where many of our homeless mentally ill citizens eventually go.

Monday September 29, 2008, 2:53 pm
Thanks,Paige and noted. This is another case of the authorities treating the mentally ulll as garbage-not people. Thanks for bring this to light.
Love, Mairead

Tuesday September 30, 2008, 2:19 pm
Congratulations! The Care2 Community has promoted your submission to the Care2 News Network Front Page.

Thanks to all who read and noted this post, and kudos to Mairead and Mary Neal for your comments.