U.S. Supreme Court ruling on care of people with mental disabilities
SOURCE: Bernice Skirboll, Founder and Executive Director of Compeer, an international organization of volunteers committed to helping people with mental illness.
CONTACT: Marilynne Herbert / Jason Wagner
Halstead Communications for Compeer (212) 734-2190 [email protected]
A June 22 Supreme Court decision ruled that state governments cannot deny smaller group home care to the mentally ill if it is medically justified for them to move out of larger mental institutions. The 6-3 decision has been hailed by mental health advocates as a positive decision that will require state mental health care programs to provide adequate, individualized care for the mentally disabled.
Bernice Skirboll, an advocate for the mentally ill for over 25 years, and the founder and executive director of Compeer, greets the decision with enthusiasm and says it represents a major step in a continuing process of deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill.
"I was impressed by the flexibility of the verbiage [of the decision] because it gives the states, the local communities, the right to treat people diagnosed with mental illness as individuals," she said.
Although some state mental health organizations have worried about finding funding for the more individualized care now mandated by the Supreme Court's decision, Skirboll sees it as an opportunity for advocacy organizations such as her own Compeer, which she founded in 1975. Compeer is a national organization based in Rochester, New York, that pairs volunteers with those who are mentally disabled.
"There's a more critical need for the role of the Compeer volunteer, who acts as a supportive friend, is an adjunct to therapy and provides that missing link back to the community. With appropriate and adequate community support programs like Compeer, people can now live a more productive and healthier life," she said.
Compeer has been the recipient of numerous national awards, including the Presidential Recognition Award, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Presidential Volunteer Action Award Citation (President Reagan); the Presidential Volunteer Action Award (President Bush); and three "Points of Light" awards.
Contact Bernice Skirboll at 716-546-8280 or by contacting Marilynne Herbert or Jason Wagner at Halstead Communications at (212) 734-2190.
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