Bipolar: Crazy Mermaid's Blog

Three Party Commitment Petitions January 29, 2010

Throughout my (admittedly very short) “career” as a spokesperson for NAMI’s In Our Own Voice program, I hear the same sad story over and over again.  Parents, afraid of their adult dysfunctional and/or dangerously mentally ill children, are unable to get help for them. With nowhere to go but the streets, parents reluctantly allow their scary offspring to stick around home, hoping that the now-grown “child” will somehow miraculously become well enough to get the medical help he needs. As the child slips deeper into the clutches of mental illness, his paranoia grows stronger, and the parent joins the long and growing list of “they” who are out to get him.

What is  a parent supposed to do? Throw the child out on the street? And yet the child cannot fend for himself because of his severe mental illness. Unable to get the child help because of the way the commitment laws are written, the parent suffers through years of living this tortured existence. Coming home from work each day, wondering if today will be the day.  Waiting for the child to make a real solid attempt at killing himself or someone else  so that he can finally cross that threshold to get involuntarily committed to a mental hospital.

Today’s Seattle Times featured an article written by Martha Monfried about the disgusting state of affairs regarding mental illness in Washington State. In her article, she cajoled the legislature to pass legislation this session that would allow families in Washington State to petition the court to commit their loved ones who suffer from mental illness.  Not knowing whether she was asking for new legislation or  passage of existing legislation, I did some searching and found nothing along the lines of anything resembling existing legislation for the State of Washington. That doesn’t  mean it isn’t out there. It just means I can’t find it.

In the meantime, I did find other legislation.  I like what I found. What do you think?

Three Party Commitment Petition

Wisconsin is a state of least restrictive treatment, meaning a person seeking treatment for mental health, developmental disabilities, drug dependency or alcoholism has the right to pursue treatment in the least restrictive environment appropriate for their needs.

If a person is willing to seek help on a voluntary basis, there is no need to pursue a Three-Party Petition.

Since Wisconsin is a least restrictive state, the law governing our mental health system (Chapter 51) emphasizes protecting individual rights and liberties.  The laws favor voluntary over involuntary treatment.  However, there are three ways in which to force involuntary treatment in the State of Wisconsin:

• Emergency Detention
• Director’s Petition (also known as Director’s Hold)
• Three-Party Petition

Emergency Detentions – (51.15, WI STATS)

These are initiated when an individual is presently a danger to themselves or others.  The detention is obtained by contacting law enforcement.

Director’s Petitions (or “Director’s Hold”) – (51.10(5)(c) and 51.15 (10), WI STATS)

These are used only by psychiatrists when a person who has been seeking services voluntarily and then decides that they want to leave the psychiatric unit and the psychiatrist does not believe that is appropriate for the person.  The psychiatrist must be able to state that the person will be dangerous (to self and/or others) if allowed to leave the hospital.

Three-Party Petitions – (51.20 (1), WI STATS)

These actions occur if there are recent dangerous conducts/behaviors present AND one or more of the following disabilities exists:  mental illness, drug dependency and/or developmental disabilities.

To substantiate mental illness, drug dependency or developmental disability, you will need to provide information on the current physician, diagnoses, medications and dates of last treatment.  The person also must be a proper subject for treatment.

Dangerous conduct/behavior is defined as specific acts, attempts or threats which constitute a substantial risk of physical harm to self and/or others, according to the following standards:

1. Danger to oneself (for ex., suicidal thoughts/actions)
2. Danger to others (for ex., homicidal thoughts/actions)
3. Impaired judgment in that the person is not able to make decisions that are appropriate and potentially dangerous (for ex., believing that they possess super powers and that they can fly if they jump off a building)
4. Behavior indicating the person can’t take care of themselves or meet their own basic needs(for ex., person refuses to eat or does not dress appropriately for the weather conditions) so that substantial probability exists that death, serious physical injury, debilitation or disease will imminently ensue unless the person receives prompt adequate treatment.
5. Fifth Standard – This standard is different from the other involuntary civil commitment statutes because it requires a finding that the person suffering from a mental illness is in need of treatment AND there must be a finding that the person is incompetent to refuse medication.  This is why the Fifth Standard is also referred to as the “need for treatment” alternative to the other four standards.  The Fifth Standard also does not require the finding of dangerousness to be immediate or overt, as it is with the first four standards.

Three-Party Petitions for Alcoholism also have a different standard.  A petition may be filed if the person’s dependence on alcohol substantially impairs or endangers the person’s health AND their social or economic functioning is substantially disrupted.  Please remember that simply being an alcoholic is not automatic grounds for a petition.  There are many people who are alcoholics and still able to function well enough in their lives.  In this context, substantially means a severe degree of impairment, endangerment or disruption.

This process may take time.  Depending upon several factors and the evidence presented, some petitions could take weeks to bring to court.  During this period of time, an emergency detention can be started, if necessary.  If the emergency detention process is started, the three-party petition will be put “on hold.”

If you believe that you have the necessary information to meet the standards for a three-party petition (as outlined above), you may contact the Information & Assistance unit of the Racine County Human Services Department at 262-638-6321 to start the referral process.  Please understand that, in addition to meeting the standards, the following criteria must all be met:

• There are three (3) people, including yourself, with at least one person with first-hand knowledge of the person’s situation
• All three persons are willing to sign a petition
• All three persons are willing to testify in court

Website: http://www.hsd.racineco.com/MentalHealth/ThreePartyCommitmentPetition/tabid/194/Default.aspx