KEY PLAYER IN WINNING FIGHT FOR KENDRA’S LAW

The Treatment Advocacy Center announced today that Brian Stettin has joined its staff as Policy Director.  In this new position, Brian will help to lead state-level legislative reform and implementation campaigns, direct a judicial education program, and nurture alliances between TAC and like-minded groups.

As a policy aide to former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Brian drafted the original proposal of Kendra’s Law, landmark 1999 legislation establishing Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) in New York for severely mentally ill persons who struggle with treatment compliance.

Read Dr. E. Fuller Torrey's recent op-ed in the New York Post.  Recent court cases in California and New York could have a huge impact on mental health care in those states and across the country.

ABC Primetime covers the Bruce family tragedy.  In the piece, Joe Bruce recalls the struggles they faced trying to get their son William the treatment he so desperately needed, "[h]e didn't want help, he didn't want medicine," Bruce said. "He insisted there was nothing wrong."   Read more about the Bruce Family's story in the Treatment Advocacy's Center's newsletter. 

S.B. 735 will help those with severe mental illnesses who are too sick to help themselves

Photographed above (from left): Cathy Katsnelson, Governor Jon Corzine, Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver, and Senator Richard Codey at the bill signing.

New Jersey significantly reformed its mental illness treatment law on August 11th when Governor Corzine signed Senate Bill 735 into law. Senator Richard Codey and countless advocates battled for years to give New Jersey a way to better help those who refuse treatment because of incapacitating symptoms of illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  “Our goal is to minimize time in the hospital and keep patients in the least restrictive environment that will help foster their recovery,”  said Codey.

The Treatment Advocacy Center announced James Pavle as the organization's new executive director, starting on August 3, 2009.