TOLEDO, Ohio — An Ohio bill in its early stages is getting mixed reviews throughout the state.
House Bill 249 would change the current laws regarding mental health treatment, as it would make changes to the law regarding law enforcement "pink slipping" individuals for involuntary treatment of people with a mental illness, subject to court order.
"To me, their response is a band-aid approach to resolving the real issues," said Scott Sylak, executive director of the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Lucas County.
The bill, sponsored by Brett Hudson Hillyer (R-Uhrichsville) and former Democratic state Rep. Tavia Galonski, proposes creating a new category under which a person could be considered necessary for mental health treatment.
As it stands currently, the primary categories for law enforcement to acknowledge when responding to a crisis include if an individual:
- Refuses treatment and/or is not adhering to it
- Represents significant harm to self or others
HB 249's proposed addition would be for psychiatric deterioration.
"The solution they are proposing is not going to help," said Kerstin Sjoberg, the executive director of Disability Rights Ohio. "In fact, it could exacerbate problems by forcing people into an inadequate system where they could end up languishing in jails and other places because they can't get treatment."
In the past, law enforcement could place individuals in jail after receiving calls for mental health crises and individuals fit the aforementioned categories.
The bill has a new way of handling these cases.
"Instead of arresting them for whatever their actions are, they can pink-slip them and take them to the hospital," said Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn.
This depends on the availability of hospital beds, a concern that police understand is real.
"This is a national issue," Wasylyshyn said. "It's not a Wood County issue, it's not a northwest Ohio issue or an Ohio issue. This is a national issue that we do not have the mental health beds that we need for people and that's why they are sitting in jail instead of getting the treatments they need."
Not everyone is against the bill, however. Luke Russell, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Ohio, told WTOL 11 in a statement that one of the reasons for supporting the bill is "If hospitalization is necessary, the amount of time needed to stabilize the person in the hospital is significantly less than if the person was in a full-blown psychiatric crisis, thus freeing up psychiatric hospital beds for more acute patients."
However, Katrina Kapp, a substance abuse survivor who has experienced being pink-slipped before, says this bill will do more harm than good.
"We have to restore the heart into our communities and really hit on that compassion and caring," Kapp said. "This bill is not showing it. It's causing an even larger divide and the inequity is just going to be palpable."
HB 249 is moving through in-house committees, which plan to be in session in Columbus on May 30, June 4 and June 5.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct the party affiliation of former state Rep. Tavia Galonski.