Mental Health Matters

The newsletter of the ISBA’s Mental Health Law Section

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March 2015 • Volume 1 • Number 1 •

March 2015 Mental Health Law Newsletter

On behalf of the Mental Health Law Section Council, we would like to offer you a FREE membership in the ISBA Mental Health Law Section good for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 bar years.

Joining our Section will allow you to be part of a statewide fellowship of lawyers, to benefit from the expertise of your colleagues and to share the expertise you have acquired.

Membership in the Mental Health Law Section also provides you with this newsletter, “Mental Health Matters." The newsletter provides information to lawyers regarding their interaction between persons with mental illnesses and the law and legal practice. The newsletter covers areas including: the courts, criminal justice system, hospitals, government agencies, guardianship, family laws and any area where an attorney's work involves persons with mental illness.

Joining the section also entitles you to discounts on CLE programs sponsored by the Section.

To get your free section membership, please fill out this form and note that to continue your free section membership in the 2015-2016 bar year, you will need to be a member of the ISBA.

In This Issue

Letter from the Chair

By Scott D. Hammer

An introduction to the issue from Section Chair Scott D. Hammer.

Some new (and old) ways to fix the mental health system in Illinois

By Meryl Sosa & Mark J. Heyrman

Hospital emergency rooms throughout Illinois, and across the country, increasingly encounter the problem of "psychiatric boarding"—caring for patients with significant mental health issues in the hospital’s emergency department while waiting for an inpatient hospital bed or transfer to another inpatient facility. This article examines this problem and offers some ways to address it.

Requirement that parents relinquish custody of their children in order to get mental health services addressed by new state law

By Patricia A. Werner

For decades, Illinois parents who could not afford intensive mental health services for their child had two options: deny the child needed mental health services or give custody to the Department of Children and Family Services so the child could receive the necessary treatment. A new law that became effective on January 1, 2015 aims to resolve this issue.

Mental health legislation adopted by the Illinois Legislature in 2014

By Mark Heyrman

During its 2014 session, the Illinois legislature enacted a number of provisions affecting persons with mental illnesses. This article summarizes the most important of these.

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Disclaimer: This newsletter is for subscribers’ personal use only; redistribution is prohibited. Copyright Illinois State Bar Association. Statements or expressions of opinion appearing herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Association or Editors, and likewise the publication of any advertisement is not to be construed as an endorsement of the product or service offered unless it is specifically stated in the ad that there is such approval or endorsement.

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