Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, what the gentleman is referring to is also something called assisted outpatient treatment. That is a program whereby 45 States and the District of Columbia--maybe 46 States now--have this. When people have a history of incarcerations, of arrests, of violence and when they are not in treatment, a judge protects their rights and may review their cases in terms of saying they can be put in inpatient care. If the judge says they do not meet the standard of imminent danger of harming themselves or someone else, assisted outpatient treatment is what may be warranted for them, which means the judge simply says: You are going to stay and continue to take your medication. You will continue to see your therapist and work on this. That being the case, when New York State did this, it found a reduction in incarcerations and homelessness by some 70 percent. It was pretty dramatic. It found satisfaction by over 80 percent, and it found costs go down by 50 percent. It is something on which we in Congress need to continue to work. We did pass legislation, which puts the appropriations of $15 million to help States do that, but we have a long way to go. It is a long way to go based upon what I said. I think it is 1,820,000 people so far who have commented. They have seen this on my Facebook page and have commented on it. I want to read some more comments--some heartbreaking lessons--people are making.…”