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PRESS RELEASE March 17, 2008: The Treatment Advocacy Center today released a report about the severe shortage of public psychatric hosptial beds. The report found the US is short nearly 100,000 beds. The report's lead author, Dr. E Fuller Torrey: "The results of this report are dire and the failure to provide care for the most seriously mentally ill individuals is disgraceful. Our communities are paying a high price for our failure to treat those with severe and persistent mental illness..."

STATEMENT February 7, 2008: TAC assistant director Jonathan Stanley says: "The deaths of 33 people at Virginia Tech should have been a wake-up call to legislators to provide real reform to the state’s broken commitment laws. Instead, the General Assembly is considering little more than lip-service reform."

STATEMENT January 25, 2008: TAC's executive director Kurt Entsminger says: "Virginia needs a law like Kendra’s Law, and must also allow outpatient intervention before someone is in crisis. Unfortunately, the majority of the proposed bills only marginally change Virginia’s antiquated laws...They will give legislators a photo op and a warm feeling, but will not bring real help to the people who most need it."

PRESS RELEASE December 19, 2007: The top 10 stories on mental illness you may not have heard in 2007 ...

PRESS RELEASE December 17, 2007: TAC honors three grassroots mental illness advocates.  Janice DeLoof of California, Karen Gherardini of Illinois and Jeanette Castello of Pennsylvania are winners of the annual Torrey Advocacy Commendation.

PRESS RELEASE September 14, 2007: Governor signs bill improving Illinois mental illness treatment law. SB 234 will go into effect in June 2008. "This measure opens far wider the door to needed treatment for a small group of people who are extremely ill,” said Jonathan Stanley, acting executive director of TAC. This standard will make it easier to use assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) in Illinois. AOT has been shown to reduce rates of hospitalization, homelessness, arrests, and incarceration, saving both lives and money.

PRESS RELEASE August 31, 2007: The Virginia Tech Review Panel released its report calling for reform of mental health treatment laws. The panel recommended that involuntary committment be allowed in a broader range of cases involving severe mental illness, and that prior history be considered during the committment hearing.

PRESS RELEASE July 26, 2007. Treatment Advocacy Center launches a search for a new executive director. TAC president, Dr. E. Fuller Torrey says: "The Treatment Advocacy Center has been very fortunate to have Mary Zdanowicz’s strong leadership for the past nine years Torrey. The staff and board are grateful to Mary for her years of service and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors...I am supremely confident in our staff and board and look forward to continuing the fight for treatment."

PRESS RELEASE May 7, 2007. Dr. Alan Stone joins the Treatment Advocacy Center’s advisory board.  Dr. Stone brings years of experience in law and psychiatry to the board.  He is a Touroff-Glueck professor of law and psychiatry at Harvard University School of Law and a former head of the American Psychiatric Association.

STATEMENT March 19, 2007. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: "New Mexico is again on the verge of denying critical treatment to the sickest people with severe mental illnesses, discriminating against them because they are too ill to ask for help ... We urge Gov. Richardson to add to his list of expectations for legislators that they exhibit true concern for people with debilitating brain diseases and the inability to choose treatment. Other bills to be addressed in a special session purport to protect the rights of New Mexico families and prevent them from violent harm - these criteria are also the case with the mandated community treatment legislation."

STATEMENT October 3, 2006. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: "With renewal of Laura's Law through 2013, California legislators sent a clear message to counties: California should help people with severe mental illnesses who are too sick to help themselves, and counties will be given more time to use a nationally proven program to do just that."

STATEMENT September 7, 2006. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: New DOJ survey trivializes severe mental illnesses. "The data come from surveys completed by inmates themselves, asked about symptoms in the past 12 months, or since admission, of things like “feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt,” “increased/decreased interest in sexual activities,” or even “thoughts of revenge.” One wonders why they didn’t ask if any of these jailed prisoners felt a sense of social isolation. The surveys did not assess the severity or duration of the symptoms and did not exclude “symptoms” due to medical illness, bereavement, or substance abuse. Considering the methods, it is surprising the numbers weren’t even higher."

STATEMENT September 7, 2006. The board and staff of the Treatment Advocacy Center mourn the crushing loss of Dr. Wayne Fenton. He was a rare breed of psychiatrist who devoted his career to the most severely mentally ill. He was motivated not by political correctness, but by a mission to understand and treat the most devastating symptoms of schizophrenia.

STATEMENT June 30, 2006. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: Supreme Court weakens insanity defense, affirms importance of early treatment for mentally ill. "The ruling should act as a thunderous wakeup call to the nation’s mental health system to step up and ensure people get early and sustained treatment for severe mental illnesses. People who are mentally ill deserve to get real help from the civil treatment system before situations occur that lead them to be punished by the criminal one."

ADVISORY June 28, 2006: Clark v. Arizona: Interview a national expert on treatment laws for mentally ill. “The question for the Court is whether there will be a safety net or a dragnet waiting when the mentally ill slip through the loopholes in this country’s civil commitment laws and practices ..."

PRESS RELEASE May 22, 2006: Treatment Advocacy Center honors three of psychiatry's heroes. “TAC can change laws and encourage treatment, but ultimately it is the mental health professionals who have to make it happen,” said psychiatrist and board president Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, for whom the award is named. “Psychiatrists such as Drs. [Jeffrey] Geller, [Richard] Lamb, and [Darold] Treffert, and psychologists, social workers, and psychiatric nurses who have a special interest in the severely mentally ill are the bedrock of the system. The battle for treatment is one that they wage every day in ways large and small. It is an effort and sacrifice that should not be ignored.”

PRESS RELEASE May 11, 2006: New study links violence and schizophrenia: CATIE data show 19.1% of patients violent in six-month period. “This study joins a large body of scientific research confirming what we can too easily see each day in the newspaper,” said Treatment Advocacy Center President Dr. E. Fuller Torrey. “Although most individuals with mental illnesses are not violent, violence by a subgroup of individuals with schizophrenia is far from rare. And the violent behavior is almost always associated with the person not having received treatment for their illness. The only solution is treatment.”

PRESS RELEASE May 1, 2006. Treatment Advocacy Center wins 2006 APA Presidential Commendation for "extraordinary advocacy". The Treatment Advocacy Center has won the American Psychiatric Association's Presidential Commendation for "sustained extraordinary advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable mentally ill patients who lack the insight to seek and continue effective care and benefit from assisted outpatient treatment. [See our press kit on the APA convention ...]

PRESS RELEASE April 11, 2006: Treatment Advocacy Center appoints four to board of directors. TAC's newest board members bring extensive experience in law enforcement, mental health advocacy, community psychiatry, and business development, as well as personal and family experience with mental illnesses.

PRESS RELEASE February 17, 2006: Mayor Chavez to launch Kendra's Law in Albuquerque. “I am proud of Representative Gutierrez for her leadership on this issue and for prompting a much needed debate on Kendra’s Law in New Mexico. I regret that time ran out on the bill this year, but appreciate the House’s unanimous support for the legislation,” [U.S. Senator Pete] Domenici said. “Kendra's Law works in other states. It not only prevents possible crimes and tragedies, but offers fair and safe treatment for individuals who suffer from severe mental illnesses. The people of New Mexico need Kendra's Law. With the strong support this bill received across party lines, I am hopeful it will become law in New Mexico soon."

STATEMENT February 8, 2006. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: Bottom line: Kendra's Law saves lives: Assisted outpatient treatment will help New Mexico's mentally ill access treatment. Calls to protect civil liberties betray a profound misunderstanding of that term. There is nothing “civil” about leaving people lost to disease to live homeless on the streets, suffering rape and victimization. There is nothing “right” about leaving someone untreated and psychotic, rendering them incapable of discerning whether they are attacking a CIA operative or their own mother.

ADVISORY February 3, 2006. Interview a national expert on New Mexico's Kendra's Law. As debate heats up, give your audience the facts about a proposal to use civil commitment to help New Mexico's mentally ill get treatment. This law has broad support, including Gov. Richardson, Mayor Chavez, and U.S. Sen. Domenici, but detractors -- most of whom misunderstand the law's goals -- are spreading misinformation to derail it. Only about 75 people would be placed in the program each year. It would in no way adversely affect people with mental illnesses who are able to make informed treatment decisions.

STATEMENT December 8, 2005. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: Air marshal shooting is sad but not surprising: People with mental illnesses like Rigoberto Alpizar nearly 4 times more likely to be killed in altercations with law enforcement than the general public. Rigoberto Alpizar’s death is making headlines because he was the first person killed by federal air marshals after September 11. But tragic encounters between the mentally ill and law enforcement are most often the result of an old mental health treatment system than new security measures.

NEWS November 30, 2005: TAC Executive Director Mary Zdanowicz appointed to New York AOT panel. “This is a wonderful opportunity to help make a great program even better,” said Zdanowicz, who is an attorney and a nationally known and respected legal expert on assisted outpatient treatment. “It is important to support and promote proven programs like AOT. The creation of this panel is another phase in New York's continuing work to ensure that AOT can continue to save lives while improving the overall system."

STATEMENT July 1, 2005. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: Kendra's Law renewed: Victory belongs to program participants. “[John] has been hospitalized more than a dozen times,” explains Stephanie. “[He] is unable to see that when he stops taking his medication he becomes psychotic and within a matter of days ... becomes so ill that he has to be rehospitalized. What [he] has been able to understand, however, is that when he is in the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program and under a court order, if he violates it ... he will be rehospitalized … [John] takes his AOT program and its court order very seriously. It is the only thing that has worked ….”

PRESS RELEASE June 24, 2005: Treatment Advocacy Center Assistant Director receives national mental illness advocacy award. "Well respected by everyone from consumers and family members to legislators and the media, Jonathan [Stanley]'s work has made an indelible impression on the landscape of treatment law reform across the nation. His selfless mission to save lives as his was saved is an inspiration and call to action for those he meets."

STATEMENT June 20, 2005. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: Will legislative politics keep Kendra's Law from helping those who need it most? Statistics from New York's Office of Mental Health show that during assisted outpatient treatment, 74 percent fewer participants experienced homelessness, 77 percent fewer psychiatric hospitalization, 83 percent fewer arrest, and 87 percent fewer incarceration. They were also more likely to regularly participate in services and take prescribed medication. New York has been a leader in showing the country how effective assisted outpatient treatment can be for participants. It would be a travesty for politics to get in the way of permanency.

PRESS RELEASE May 18, 2005: Floridians honored with National Mental Illness Advocacy Award. The board of directors of the Treatment Advocacy Center honored Seminole County Sheriff Donald Eslinger, Linda Gregory of Jacksonville, and Alice Petree of Sanford with this year’s national Torrey Advocacy Commendation for their successful advocacy for a new treatment law in Florida. The TAC award recognizes the courage and tenacity of those who selflessly advocate - despite criticism and opposition - for the right to treatment for those who are so severely disabled by severe mental illnesses that they do not recognize that they need treatment.

ADVISORY April 7, 2005. Interview a national expert on New York's Kendra's Law: First of two public hearings set for April 8. Kendra's Law, New York's program allowing courts to order someone with a severe mental illness into outpatient community treatment. The Governor has endorsed removing the sunset and making the program permanent, saying "The results are clear, Kendra's Law works."

PRESS RELEASE March 31, 2005: Governor's Task Force on Mental Health Recommends Assisted Outpatient Treatment for New Jersey. "The Task Force concluded that any comprehensive reform of a mental health system requires that the needs of the people with the most severe and persistent mental illnesses be addressed,” said Task Force Chair Bob Davison. “Our careful deliberations and extensive research led us to conclude that for those who are too ill to access mental health services, IOC strikes the appropriate balance of individual's well being and their constitutional liberties."

PRESS RELEASE March 30, 2005: The beginning of hope: Kevin's Law launched today. "There are too many people with serious mental illness whom we have not been helping, and Kevin's Law can change that," agreed Mark Reinstein of Southfield, President and CEO of the Mental Health Association in Michigan and a member of the Governor's Mental Health Commission. "We are worried about people who are homeless and living under a bridge, who would never choose that lifestyle if their brain disorder was being treated. They merit our intervention."

PRESS RELEASE March 9, 2005: Report shows success of New York's Kendra's Law. "We knew that Kendra's Law would save lives," said Pat Webdale, mother of Kendra Webdale, for whom New York's law was named. "But we are amazed to see how dramatic those numbers really are. When Kendra was killed by a man with a long history fo untreated schizophrenia, the grief we felt was unspeakable. In the course of advocating for a law that would prevent similar tragedies, we learned that assisted outpatient treatment can save both the lives of people like my daughter and the lives of those imprisoned by brain diseases. It is gratifying to see the big difference Kendra's Law is making."

PRESS RELEASE January 3, 2005: Kevin's Law signed: New Year brings new hope for mentally ill.  Donna Orrin, MSW, can speak firsthand about the powerful problem of lacking insight into a mental illness. Orrin, of Washtenaw, is the author of Consumer Involvement in Policymaking for the Michigan Department of Community Health and served as a member of Gov. Granholm's Mental Health Commission. There were times Donna was experiencing severe symptoms but did not believe she had bipolar disorder. "My mother had me committed against my will three times, and I would get so mad at her," Orrin said. "But thanks to her willingness to help me when I was not able to help myself, I have now been in treatment for a number of years, and have gained insight into my illness. I have also worked on my recovery process and have created a quality life of my personal choice. I often now think that my mother must have loved me very much to intervene when my illness made me push her away."

PRESS RELEASE June 30, 2004: Treatment for those who need it most: Baker Act brings help, hope to Florida's untreated mentally ill. Florida's reform focuses on a small subgroup of those meeting existing involuntary examination criteria, recidivists who disproportionately use mental health, criminal justice, and court resources. "Not only does a court order commit someone to treatment, but it commits the system to help the person," said bill sponsor Rep. David Simmons. "This law can ensure existing services are used more wisely, and scarce resources are not exhausted by people continually entering and exiting the system without gaining stability."

STATEMENT June 30, 2004. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: Florida becomes 42nd state to authorize assisted outpatient treatment. Gov. Jeb Bush’s signature on Baker Act reform is the first important step in halting the relentless revolving door of repeated arrests, short-term hospitalizations, and homelessness for thousands of people in Florida with severe untreated mental illnesses, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The new legislation, effective January 1, 2005, will allow court-ordered outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illnesses who refuse medication because their illness impairs their ability to make rational decisions.

ADVISORY June 15, 2004: Maryland man holds six children hostage in a day care facility while off medication for schizophrenia. The standoff ended peacefully and the man, David Robinson, is now in custody.

ADVISORY November 13, 2003: Federal agency responsible for mental health research gives short shrift to serious mental illnesses. The Treatment Advocacy Center and Public Citizen have found that the NIMH allocates only a small portion of its research grants to scientific research into serious mental illnesses in spite of the millions of Americans who suffer from these illnesses and their enormous economic and social costs. A new report will be released Wed., Nov 19.

STATEMENT July 23, 2003. TAC president E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., says: White House Commission report offers little for severest mental illnesses: Recommendations ignore people who are in crisis. Seemingly overwhelmed by the need to be politically correct, The President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health left out the people who needed them most, ignored powerful tools proven to save lives and money, and reinforced harmful stereotypes about recovery and stigma.

STATEMENT September 30, 2002. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: Landmark legislation, Laura's Law, brings much-needed reform to California: AB 1421 will help those with severe mental illnesses who are too sick to help themselves.

PRESS RELEASE September 20, 2002: Studies of never-treated patients confirm schizophrenia is a brain disease: Abnormalities in brain structure and function not caused by medications.

ADVISORY April 18, 2002: Psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey featured on April 21 edition of "60 Minutes".

STATEMENT March 15, 2002. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: Andrea Yates verdict is not the crime - Refusing to step in to avert tragedy is

ADVISORY January 25, 2002: Noted psychiatrist E. Fuller Torrey available for interviews and information related to incident with Pennsylvania schoolbus driver and consequences of untreated severe mental illness

STATEMENT October 11, 2001. TAC executive director Mary Zdanowicz says: In passing AB 1424, California supports the right to be well

PRESS RELEASE August 17, 2001: Michigan's Kevin's Law supports intervention before violence

RELEASE March 5, 2001: Minnesota's HF 281 helps those who need it most - A benefit for all

RELEASE September 7, 2000: National research agency fails to do research on most serious mental illnesses

RELEASE June 13, 2000: Treatment Advocacy Center publishes Assisted Treatment Model Law

RELEASE December 15, 1999: Radio, TV stations often deal with mentally ill callers, visitors

STATEMENTAugust 3, 1999: Passage of New York's Kendra's Law will improve quality of life for every New Yorker

STATEMENT June 16, 1999: New York legislators should stand tall: Don't fail the mentally ill by letting the clock run out on Kendra's Law

STATEMENT May 19, 1999: Assisted outpatient treatment will help reduce preventable episodes of violence, homelessness and incarceration in New York

STATEMENT May 6, 1999: Californians should not have to lose one more child to the dangers of untreated mental illnesses

STATEMENT April 29, 1999: Random violence of subway pushings can be prevented

STATEMENT April 16, 1999: Utah must have stronger treatment laws to prevent tragedies involving individuals with untreated severe mental illnesses

STATEMENT April 5, 1999: New York must pass "Kendra's Law" to prevent future episodes of violence by individuals with untreated severe mental illnesses

STATEMENT February 16, 1999: California must strengthen LPS Act for mentally ill

STATEMENT January 28, 1999: New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s OPC Plan will reduce preventable episodes of violence, homelessness and incarceration

STATEMENT January 4, 1999: New York must strengthen assisted treatment laws for mentally ill to prevent tragic episodes of violence

RELEASE December 16, 1998: Advocates demand New York implement outpatient commitment for severely mentally ill

RELEASE December 8, 1998: Bellevue program successfully reduces hospitalization for individuals with severe psychiatric disorders

RELEASE October 26, 1998: Competency tests for psychiatrists essential to quality care

STATEMENT October 21, 1998: Suicide prevention strategy "long overdue," says Treatment Advocacy Center

Media contact:Stacy Fiedler, 703-294-6003 (phone), [email protected] (email), 703 294 6010 (fax)

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The contents of TAC's website are copyrighted by the Treatment Advocacy Center unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved and content may be reproduced, downloaded, disseminated, or transferred, for single use, or by nonprofit organizations for educational purposes only, if correct attribution is made. TAC is an I.R.C. � 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation. Donations are appreciated and are eligible for the charitable contribution deduction under the provisions of I.R.C. � 170. Please note that TAC does not accept funding from pharmaceutical companies or entities involved in the sale, marketing, or distribution of such products. Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC), 200 N. Glebe Road, Suite 730, Arlington, VA 22203 703 294 6001/6002 (phone) | 703 294 6010 (fax) | www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org (website) [email protected] (general email) | [email protected] (press contact) [email protected] (webmaster)