By Bryan Thompson, Kansas Public Radio
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-971387.mp3
SALINA, Ks. – A new law that went into effect May 19 allows law enforcement officers in Kansas to find out whether someone they've arrested has been treated for a mental illness. Kansas Public Radio's Bryan Thompson has more.
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The law is meant to stear suspects with mental illnesses toward treatment programs rather than jail. Previously, mental health centers could not tell officers whether someone had been a patient in most cases.
Susan Crain Lewis, who heads the Mental Health Association of the Heartland, says the new law may help, but the system is still underfunded.
"One of the things that we struggle with in Kansas City is, where do you take them?" Lewis says. "If you're not going to take them to jail, and if the mental health system is underfunded and the case manager can't get out there and pick them up, then where are you going to put them?"
Lewis says the law also needs clearer guidelines on when it is appropriate to disclose information and when it is not.
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