by smash

Six weeks into my legislative career, I was the legislature’s reluctant new expert on mental health.

It's not just the "experts" in the Science Committee that fails to understand their own field. This is a perfect example of what is wrong with politics across America.

When Tim finally found a landlord willing to rent him a place on his own, the mental health agency’s housing personnel gave him a bad reference. That kept Tim living on the streets, and eventually he drifted into homelessness and incarceration. When he was in jail, with its regular routines and meals, Tim usually stabilized. But when he was released — because he went back to the streets instead of to a service provider — he destabilized right away, which in his case meant becoming highly agitated and paranoid, and hearing voices.

Of course he'd get better in jail, that was the only time he was taken care of and had his needs met, such as food, housing, and structure. This article left me depressed.