Rare Accord in Gun Debate on Fixes to Mental Health System
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Lawmakers have been working on plans to improve to the nation’s mental
health system that stand a good chance of being in the final gun-control
bill the Senate is taking up.
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: April 12, 2013
WASHINGTON — In the days after the Newtown, Conn., massacre, the one
thing opponents and advocates of gun control agreed on was the need to
address deficiencies in the mental health system so that killers like
Adam Lanza would stop slipping through the cracks.
Since then, however, with Congress consumed by issues like background
checks and a ban on assault weapons, there has been comparatively little
focus on how American society deals with mentally ill people.
But quietly, lawmakers have been working on several plans that would
lead to some of the most significant advancements in treating mental
illness in years, proponents said. All stand a good chance of being in
the final gun-control bill the Senate is now taking up.
The legislation would, among other things, finance the construction of
more community mental health centers, provide grants to train teachers
to spot early signs of mental illness and make more Medicaid dollars
available for mental health care.
There would be suicide prevention initiatives and support for children
who have faced trauma. The sponsors of one of the bills estimated that
an additional 1.5 million people with mental illness would be treated
each year.
The issue is one of the more distinguishing — and unnoticed — aspects of
the gun-control debate, which has been stymied by partisan squabbling.
Unlike other initiatives that the Senate is likely to vote on — expanded
background checks, a restriction on high-capacity ammunition magazines
and a ban on certain semiautomatic weapons — mental health unites
lawmakers Republican and Democrat, urban and rural, even those with safe
seats versus those who may face competitive races.
One bill, sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan,
has been joined by some of the Senate’s most conservative members who
are strongly backed by the National Rifle Association, including Marco
Rubio of Florida and Roy Blunt of Missouri, both Republicans.
Another bill, which has the support of Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat of
Iowa, and Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, unanimously
passed a Senate committee this week, something that could hardly be said
about any of the gun legislation.
“This is a place where people can come together,” Ms. Stabenow said. “As
we’ve listened to people on all sides of the gun debate, they’ve all
talked about the fact that we need to address mental health treatment.
And that’s what this does.”
Indeed, some Republicans have used mental health care as a political
refuge while pressure to act on gun laws built. John Cornyn of Texas,
the No. 2 Senate Republican, who has not wavered in his opposition to
tighter gun laws, met with families of Newtown victims but said he came
away believing they wanted to attack mental health problems above all
else.
“This is actually something we can and should do something about,” Mr.
Cornyn said. “We need to make sure that the mentally ill are getting the
help they need.”
Advocates for better mental health services said that many of them were
initially uneasy about seizing on an event as tragic as the Connecticut
school shootings. But they came to believe that the current time was the
best opportunity for real change, and that they might not get another
one for a while.
“This is our moment,” said Linda Rosenberg, the president of the
National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. “I hate the
connection between gun violence and the need for better mental health
care, but sometimes you have to take what you can get.”
President Obama has also joined the effort. His budget includes $130
million for programs that would help detect mental illness in young
children, train educators to spot those signs and refer the students to
treatment.
Treatment for mentally ill people is but one of the myriad issues before
Congress, and it lacks not only headline-grabbing elements like
semiautomatic weapons and gun-show loopholes, but also a backer like
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York who can bankroll a
multimillion-dollar advertising campaign to keep reminding voters to
contact their senators.
Nevertheless, the issue has moved rapidly through the Senate, because of
the efforts of the mental health lobby and because many legislators
have a personal connection to mental illness. Senator Harry Reid, the
majority leader, spoke the other day about his father’s suicide by gun.
Senate Democratic aides said that there is likely to be at least one
mental health bill offered as an amendment to the larger gun package.
The problem will be accommodating all of the additions.
Democrats have to agree to allow Republicans the same number of
amendments as they give themselves. To reduce the likelihood that
Republicans will offer multiple amendments that could water down and
even torpedo the gun bill, it is in Democrats’ interest to limit their
amendments.
A major reason proponents of this legislation see it as so significant
is that unlike background checks or weapons bans, properly treating
mental illness can prevent problems before a potential killer ever tries
to buy a gun.
“Interestingly enough, if you look at Aurora, Tucson, Newtown, the
people we’re talking about are very likely not individuals whose names
would be on any lists,” said Ronald S. Honberg, the legal director for
the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
He noted that none of the recent spree killers he mentioned had been
declared “mentally defective” by a judge, which is the legal standard
for an individual’s name landing in the background check system.
Though more-stringent reporting standards into the nation’s background
check system will undoubtedly help, he added, there will always be
holes.
“It’s very difficult to come up with a system that’s foolproof,” he
said. “The bigger point is if you really want to improve mental health
care in this country, then let’s improve mental health care.”
COPY http://www.nytimes.com
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