"Community Care" is a bit of jargon that has a well established meaning.
I think you're suggesting that we lock up everyone who has a mental illness, and then release the ones who aren't dangerous.
About 1% of the population has schizophrenia. About 1% of the population has bipolar. Let's say about 1% of the population has a severe personality disorder. If there are about 320m people in the US you're calling for the incarceration of 9,600,000 innocent people.
The vast majority of those people are not a danger to others, or themselves.
What we need to do is invest in community care, have short hospital stays available if needed, and have forensic "secure units" available for the small numbers of people who pose a serious risk of harm to other people or who have committed criminal acts while mentally ill. We do this because it is cheaper; it is more effective; it is safer; and it respects people's human rights.
There are two extremes: lock everybody up or let everybody be on the street.
Both are wrong, and today the latter is being implemented. We need a balanced solution, but what we have today is not working (as a short walk around San Francisco - for example - will demonstrate).
What I want is not “hopes” or “more funding”. What I want is a plan. Saying that all we need is “community care” is too generic and broad which means things will never change.
I want 1-2-3 steps on how we are going to be dealing with these issues.
I think you're suggesting that we lock up everyone who has a mental illness, and then release the ones who aren't dangerous.
About 1% of the population has schizophrenia. About 1% of the population has bipolar. Let's say about 1% of the population has a severe personality disorder. If there are about 320m people in the US you're calling for the incarceration of 9,600,000 innocent people.
The vast majority of those people are not a danger to others, or themselves.
What we need to do is invest in community care, have short hospital stays available if needed, and have forensic "secure units" available for the small numbers of people who pose a serious risk of harm to other people or who have committed criminal acts while mentally ill. We do this because it is cheaper; it is more effective; it is safer; and it respects people's human rights.