Legislators push for passage of Kendra’s Law

(KNOXVILLE, TN), January 18, 2008 -- State Senator Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville), and Representative Doug Overbey (R-Maryville) today announced they will push for passage of Kendra’s law in the 2008 legislative session.  The legislators were joined by law enforcement officers, including Knox County Sheriff Jimmy Jones and Blount County Sheriff James Berrong, as well as local health care providers, social workers and families interested in passage of the bill.

     “In a tough financial year, people say we can’t afford Kendra’s law,” said Senator Burchett.  “We say, we can’tafford not to do it.  Our law enforcement authorities are continuing to have an ever-increasing load of mentally ill citizens.  They are strapped for the kind of highly specialized resources needed to handle them.  This law helps prevent victims, helps families with their loved ones, and helps law enforcement deal with a growing problem.”

     Kendra’s law is a bill first approved in New York state in 1999 that provides for assisted outpatient treatment for certain people with mental illness who, in view of their treatment history and present circumstances, are unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision.  The law is named after Kendra Webdale, a young woman who died in January 1999 after being pushed in front of a New York City subway train by a person who was living in the community at the time, but was not receiving treatment for his mental illness.  

     The legislators said that the New York law has been a “stunning success.”  It was predicted that 10,000 people a year would be swept into Kendra's law there, but less than 1,000 individuals are enrolled each year. Details of people served indicate that less than one-half of one percent of New Yorkers with severe mental illnesses have been served under court order.

     Burchett said the law “balances individual rights with society’s need to protect people from harming themselves or others.”  It provides for court-directed, physician-monitored treatment programs that could include mandatory drug compliance through law enforcement.

     “I am glad to work with Senators Burchett and Woodson to pass this legislation in our General Assembly this year,” said Rep. Overbey.  “The people of Tennessee, including those in need of, but who may not be getting mental health treatment, need the help and protection that this law aims to provide.  I know it will be of great help to prevent tragic situations in the future.”

     Under the bill, a petition for an order authorizing assisted outpatient treatment may be filed in a court by their parent, spouse, sibling or child as long as they are 18 years of age or older.  The petition can also be filed by the director of a hospital, any public or charitable organization or home providing mental health services, or a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist who is treating the patient.

     This bill specifies in detail the procedures for a court hearing on the petition. The court may hear the petition in the absence of the person, if they fail to appear.

     The court may not order assisted outpatient treatment unless an examining physician, who recommends assisted outpatient treatment and has personally examined the subject of the petition within 10 days before the filing of the petition, testifies in person at the hearing. If the subject of the petition has refused to be examined by a physician, the court may request an examination by a physician appointed by the court.  Also, the court may not order assisted outpatient treatment unless the physician appointed develops and provides to the court a proposed written treatment plan.

     “We have the appropriate safeguards in place under the bill to protect all concerned,” Overbey added.  “I am hopeful our legislature will find the dollars needed to pass the legislation this year.” 

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