New tragedies are powering a new push for a law that will let parents pursue involuntary commitment for their mentally ill adult children.
Joel Reuter was a mentally ill man who confronted Seattle police with a weapon two years ago and was killed.
His parents knew he was sick, but say Washington law kept them from being able to involuntarily commit him.
“Please pass Joel's law so that families don't have to ask themselves 'Could I have done more;' please give them the power to do more,” his tearful mother Nancy said at a hearing called by Pierce County Republican Steve O’Ban, chair of the State Senate’s Mental Health Committee.
The friends and family of Sheenna Henderson wish they'd had the power to do more to stop her mentally ill husband from killing her at a Spokane hospital last July.
“If Joel's law would have been approved last year, there was a strong possibility that Chris would have gotten the help,” family friend Kristen Otuopaslkik said in emotional testimony.
Joel's law would give close family members the ability to ask a judge to involuntarily commit a loved one for observation.
Currently, a government-appointed designated mental health professional makes the decision.
The holdup last year was the multimillion dollar cost, and personal rights.
“We should remember that there's a human being here, a mentally ill person whose interest may not be aligned with those of the family members,” said the ACLU’s Shankar Narayan.
He noted that Washington currently ranks 47 out of 50 states on the amount of money spent on mental health.
He says more should be spent to prevent a mental illness from becoming a dangerous crisis that requires involuntary commitment. But supporters have a new tragedy to point to.
Just last week, police say, a mentally ill man in Mill Creek killed his grandmother with a knife, and tried to kill his grandfather.
“People will continue to die until this Legislature decides enough is enough,” said Doug Reuter, Joel's father.
The Reuter’s lost their fight for Joel’s law last year, but have moved to Olympia again from their home in Texas to pursue it during this legislative session.
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