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"KEVIN'S LAW" SUPPORTS INTERVENTION BEFORE VIOLENCE
Legislators Release Details On Anniversary Of Kalamazoo Bus Station Murder

Arlington, Virginia — One year ago, Kevin Heisinger lost his life because another person's mental illness was not being treated. His attacker, Brian Williams, was off medication for his schizophrenia and later said that "voices" made him beat Kevin to death. Kevin's repeated screams of anguish and pain went unheeded by other travelers during the midday murder in the busy bus station in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

To honor Kevin's memory on the one-year anniversary of his death, his family and state legislators are demanding that Michigan lawmakers listen to Kevin's voice - this time, by passing "Kevin's Law."

The details of Kevin's Law will be presented at press conferences on Friday, August 17:

• at 8:00 am in KALAMAZOO: Kalamazoo bus and train station, 495 North Burdick Street;
• at 12:00 noon in LANSING: CEI Community Mental Health Building, 812 Jolly Road, Room G11-C;
• at 3:00 pm in DETROIT: Mental Health Association Building, 15920 West 12 Mile Road, Southfield.

For directions, call Rep. Virg Bernero's office at 517.373.1770. Speaking at the various events will be Treatment Advocacy Center Executive Director Mary Zdanowicz and Assistant Director Jonathan Stanley, Kevin's Law sponsors Reps. Virg Bernero (D-Lansing) and Tom George (R-Portage); Charles Heisinger, Kevin's father; Kimberly McKenna, Kevin's mother; and Patricia Webdale, the mother of Kendra Webdale, for whom a similar law was named and passed in New York. [Full list of speakers.]

"We cannot turn our backs while individuals with untreated mental illness commit suicide, die homeless on a park bench from malnutrition, or beat someone to death in broad daylight in a public building," said Zdanowicz. "The legal standard for intervention should be need for treatment, not dangerousness alone. If the law had helped Brian Williams, Kevin would still be alive today, working toward his graduate degree in social work and his goal of helping those who need it most. Kevin's Law is a fitting legacy."

Rep. Bernero chose to sponsor Kevin's Law because securing mental health treatment for those in need is increasingly problematic. "After deinstitutionalization, too many people with mental illness are left adrift with nowhere to turn. They wind up on the streets, in jail, or dead. People with mental health issues and the communities in which they live all deserve better."

Rep. George, sponsor of the bill, believes that "by ensuring that those with severe mental illness get consistent and long-term treatment, Kevin's Law can help prevent tragedies like this one."

BACKGROUND. Brian Williams, 40, was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager. He lived on a roller coaster - in and out of institutions and on and off of medications. Last August, police arrested Williams for brandishing a large knife in a diner, dealt with him walking naked through town, and confronted him about his strange behavior in a convenience store. But nobody monitored his treatment - or lack thereof.

At least 40% of the 4.5 million Americans diagnosed with either schizophrenia or manic-depression, the two severest forms of mental illness, do not and cannot realize they are sick because brain disease affects the frontal-lobe function necessary to make that determination. Because they do not know they are sick, they refuse medication and often deteriorate. Current Michigan law prevents the state from intervening to provide care until someone exhibits dangerous behavior. As in the case of Kevin Heisinger, many times that is too late.

Kevin's Law will bring assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) to people like Brian Williams, both for their own welfare and to ensure the safety of others. Courts will be able to order intensive outpatient care for the small percentage of individuals who are either most in need of help or the greatest risk to the public. These individuals will receive supervised and intensive treatment in the community and be monitored to ensure treatment compliance until they are again capable of maintaining their own psychiatric care.

Unlike Michigan's current law, Kevin's Law permits intervention before the individual becomes dangerous, also the focus of a similar law passed in November 1999 in New York State. "Kendra's Law" was named after Kendra Webdale, a young woman who died January 1999 after being pushed in front of a New York City subway train by another person with mental illness who failed to take prescribed medication.

Forty-one states now have laws supporting some form of assisted outpatient treatment. In study after study and in state after state, AOT has increased treatment compliance. The most comprehensive and respected study on the use of AOT found that the program, when used for more than 6 months and combined with routine mental health services, reduced violence by half (24 percent versus 48 percent) and reduced hospital admissions by 57 percent.

There is ample evidence of the consequences of non-treatment.

• Individuals with untreated severe mental illness commit almost 1,000 annual homicides in the United States, or between 4% and 5% of the total murders, but are no more dangerous than the general population when taking medication.
• At least one in three homeless people suffer from severe mental illness.
• Approximately 16 percent of jail and prison inmates have severe mental illness.
• Studies suggest that delaying treatment results in permanent clinical harm, including increased treatment resistance, worsening symptoms, increased hospitalizations and delayed remission.

***

The Treatment Advocacy Center (www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illnesses. TAC promotes laws, policies, and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supports the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
press room | press kit on Kevin's Law

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