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Kevin Fischer, Executive Director of Michigan’s National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), breaks down the necessity of Michigan’s version of Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), called Kevin’s Law. He is joined by the Honorable Milton L. Mack Jr., Chief Judge of the Wayne County Probate Court, and Washtenaw Sheriff, Jerry Clayton, to explain how the law helps support those with mental health issues, and keeps them from winding up in the justice system.
Judge Milton Mack explains that the revolutionary, and sometimes controversial, Kevin’s Law is designed to, “provide protection and care for individuals whose mental illness has temporarily impaired their judgment about the need for treatment. The law allows a court to order Assisted Outpatient Treatment for people with mental illness who are least able to help themselves or most likely to present a risk to others.”
“From a law enforcement point of view, Kevin’s Law makes total sense insofar as it directs people with mental illness into the appropriate clinical treatment instead of automatically channeling them into public jails and prisons.” Washtenaw County Sheriff, Jerry Clayton, provides further explanation and support for Kevin’s Law as a means of providing intervention for those who need it most.
Watch this episode to learn more from these experts from the judicial, law enforcement and mental health fields on what this law entails, and why it’s so important.
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