Earlier this month, WBFO's Emyle Watkins joined mental health advocates as they went to Albany to advocate for voluntary, peer-led services in New York State’s budget.
While the Governor had proposed expanding who could be involuntarily committed, the legislature has decided to omit those changes in their proposed budget since the advocates visited Albany.
One of the people speaking out on this issue in Albany was Ruth Lowenkron, the director of the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. She shared a bit of her personal story.
TRANSCRIPT
Emyle Watkins: Hi, I am Emyle Watkins, and this is the WBFO Disabilities Beat. Earlier this month I joined mental health advocates as they went to Albany to advocate for voluntary peer-led services in New York State's budget. While the governor had proposed expanding who could be involuntarily committed, the legislature has decided to omit those changes in their proposed budget.
One of the people I met who's speaking out on this issue was Ruth Lowenkron, the director of the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers For the Public Interest. She shared a bit of her own personal story.
Emyle Watkins: Can you tell me a little bit about why, specifically, you spoke out on involuntary commitment, voluntary services, peer-led services today. Why are those so important?
Ruth Lowenkron: Sure. Again, a piece of it comes from my own backgrounds. When my sister was voluntarily committed into a hospital in Connecticut, and I went there to visit her, that really... I mean, I'd already been very active in the space, but seeing it firsthand, that really pushed me to be the loud voice that I am, the real deprivation of rights in that context.
Again, she was there voluntarily, but to think that somebody would end up in circumstances where they have lost all of their independence, their rights to choose what kind of medication, to choose when to go to bed, to choose what to eat, any of those things taken away, something very wrong with that. Of course, over the years, I've done a lot of reading in the space. It just simply is not the answer. We want to ensure that people choose the areas of treatment that they avail themselves of, choose the kind of social services that they need. We have to offer it as a society, but then we have to make it available by choice.
The idea that we would force somebody into a space, which so often is so degrading, it's wrong-headed. What we know is that people who are committed over objection are more likely to be treatment resistant. Stands to reason, right? If someone tells you, "You must do this," and you end up having to do it over objection, chances are quite good that you are not going to like what was happening to you and not want to repeat that again. So you're going to stay undercover and not really allow yourself to get whatever minimal services are available in a commitment kind of a circumstance. So it's from, I guess, my experiences, but also from reading what the professionals have to say.
Emyle Watkins: What do you hope for your sibling? What are your hopes for her life and the resources she has when she needs them?
Ruth Lowenkron: I guess the main thing I hope for is that she has the supports when she needs them. She has a very good network. Did you want me to ask it? Answer it personally? Is that what you're saying? Okay. So my sister in particular has a very strong network of friends, so that's important. She has two sisters who love her to death and will do whatever they can for her. I think it's all about that.
If you think about that INSET model, that Peer Bridger model, it's very akin to that sense of friends and family who are there to support you when you need it. To show you where the professionals might be if you need professionals, where the various services are, and be there for them to call you. I think that's key.
Emyle Watkins: The mentioned Peer Bridger program is meant to prevent readmission to a psychiatric hospital. The program provides peer support, resources, and planning from the point someone is admitted to a hospital, through discharge, and as they transition to being out of the hospital. The legislature has signaled support for expanding Medicaid coverage for peer-led services in New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports certified and inpatient programs.
Stay tuned. We have a special episode of what's next, going in-depth on the push for peer-led services. We'll also continue to bring you the latest on the budget in the weeks to come here on the WBFO Disabilities Beat.
You can listen to the Disabilities beat segment on demand, view a transcript in plain language description for every episode on our website at WBFO.org. I'm Emyle Watkins. Thanks for listening.
The mentioned What's Next Episode will air Monday, March 24th.
