Collegiate Times

Congressional officials from both parties and houses of the Virginia General Assembly recently gathered to determine new legislation aimed at improving Virginia's mental health system.

The system has fallen under criticism by observers throughout the state.

"It (the mental health system) is very much lacking in financial and legislative support," said Phyllis Scruggs, president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness for the Roanoke Valley area.

State government, including Gov. Tim Kaine, has proposed several ways to improve the mental health system. Kaine alone proposed $42 million in his two-year budget be dedicated solely for increasing mental health services and outpatient care.

Despite the strides being taken, some feel that more could have been done.

"The governor has made a good first attempt to help improve the system, but there's still more to do," Scruggs said. "We are too wealthy a state to allow those with mental illnesses to be left untreated or put in jail."

A variety of new legislation is working to improve the mental health system and the lives of those with mental illnesses.

One of the biggest pieces of legislation being debated would change the requirements that allow young people to receive mental health care. The bill, SB 276, would allow adults to commit minors to emergency mental health care regardless of their objections. The changes are a way to legalize grey areas of mental health treatment.

"We hope to bring some aspects of the mental health system under the law," said Republican Sen. Ken Cuccinelli II, chief patron of the bill.

As the rules are today, minors in mental health treatment against their will are only allowed to be held for 48 hours. As a result, patients admitted on a Friday were legally unable to be evaluated the following Monday, when the next evaluations began. This resulted in some treatment centers holding patients past the limit.

Under the new system, the holding time maximum will be increased to 96 hours. It is hoped that the change will improve evaluation quality.

"What we're looking for is the best evaluation in each case," Cuccinelli said. Mental health supporters had positive feelings about the legislation.

"It's the way it should be. As it is, you have to sit back and wait until they're a danger to themselves or others," said Tom Spurlock, lobbyist for the National Alliance on Mental Illnesses.

Another bill in the works would change the wording in mental health legislation. The legislation from Senator Patricia Ticer, SB 620, would replace the phrase "mentally retarded" with "intellectually disabled." Supporters hoped it would remove some stigma of the mentally ill.

"It's a chance to remove some of the stigma from those who have mental illnesses," said John Beghtol, director of the community services board for Western State Hospital. Legislators acknowledge the fact that the new regulations and funding for mental health treatment spawned from the events at Virginia Tech last April.

"It's a shame that it took a major tragedy to get political momentum rolling on this issue," Cuccinelli said.