Join us

---

MOMI is part of a national grassroots movement to improve access and quality of SMI treatment to avoid tragedies and criminalization. Our systems change efforts are centered in Washington and Oregon. Specific work in those states is described below.

Caring for all people experiencing grief related to complex SMI conditions is a global goal for MOMI.
"Ambiguous loss" is a term to describe the unresolvable losses people experience when mental illness steals opportunities and damages relationships. Stay tuned for news of Jerri Clark's upcoming book, titled Gone before Gone: How to cope with ambiguous loss when mental illness steals someone you love.

Self-care starts now: Read MOMI's Blog for tips. 

• Recovery is expected when care is prompt and appropriate.
• Mental health care must be compassionate, humane, comprehensive, and on parity with health care for other disabling and life-threatening conditions. 
• Treatment laws and services must acknowledge anosognosia, a symptom of SMI that can disable a person’s ability to know they are sick. 
• Involuntary treatment should be used sparingly but may be life-saving for a person too ill to engage with treatment independently.
• Misunderstandings about SMI have contributed to a system that withholds life-saving care from individuals who are the most vulnerable, leading many into homelessness, involvement with law enforcement, and early death. 
• Advocacy against involuntary care and inadequate resources have led to a system that criminalizes illness and/or abandons people most in need. 
• Appropriate quality of life should be tracked, measured, and required as a treatment outcome.

Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT)

AOT is court-ordered outpatient treatment for individuals who cannot find recovery in strictly voluntary programs. AOT helps a person learn to accept treatment and regain autonomy by seeing how consistency with treatment improves their quality of life. 

MOMI advocated to support AOT legislation in Washington, passed in 2022  (HB 1773). Washington state's Health Care Authority (HCA) is responsible for monitoring the roll-out of AOT, with the largest program so far in Pierce County. 

Through participation on several statewide work groups, MOMI has worked to spread awareness of AOT in Oregon, where a pilot program in Klamath County may create data to demonstrate a need for AOT expansion statewide.

ADVOCACY ACTION: Implementation of AOT is ongoing and needs AOT champions. Supporting AOT is part of Jerri Clark's professional job at Treatment Advocacy Center, which provides extensive information about how AOT works. Become an AOT champion by joining TAC's AOT Learning Network. 

Improve Access to Inpatient Beds

Inpatient services need improvements in both quantity and quality. Access barriers include laws that require "imminence," such that a person has to be so dangerous in the moment that tragedy or incarceration often happens before a doorway to treatment opens. 

Washington: In 2020, MOMI testified to support passage of SB 5720, which amended the Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) to establish an initial hold of up to 120 hours for a person who meets criteria as needing hospital-level crisis care and further evaluation. The law includes criteria for dangerousness to include when a person "manifests severe deterioration from safe behavior," but this language doesn’t apply until more specialized psychiatric beds bring down reliance on “single bed certifications.”  Advocacy is needed to support more inpatient beds so the rest of this law can be implemented.

Oregon: MOMI supports NAMI Oregon in pushing 2025 legislation (HB 2467) to slightly lower the commitment standard to allow for hospitalization prior to criminalization. Jerri Clark has coached families testifying for this statutory change, which will for the first time define what Oregon means by "dangerousness," including due to psychiatric deterioration.

ADVOCACY ACTION: Let your elected officials know why involuntary care supports a person's human right to be cared for and not abandoned. Explain why more inpatient beds will save the state money by helping people get the right help sooner, when they can stabilize with fewer days in the hospital. Learn how to explain why a psychiatric deterioration standard is both more humane and more cost effective. 

988 Rollout

On July 16, 2022, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline went live nationally as a number to call for a mental health or substance use crisis. MOMI testimony supported passage of HB 1477, which endeavors to enhance the 988 rollout in Washington. 

ADVOCACY ACTION: Monitor 988 rollout in your area to determine how the service is enabling not just someone to talk to but also someone to come and somewhere to go. 

Other National Priorities:

• Remove the federal exclusion to Medicaid reimbursement for hospital care in a psychiatric facility with more than 16 beds. The “IMD Exclusion” that prohibits payment for Institutions for Mental Disease—IMDs—is a form of institutionalized discrimination and has contributed to massive bed shortages.  Advocates, please contact your federally elected officials to voice your support for repeal of this discriminatory aspect of Social Security law. 

• Spread awareness about anosognosia and why understanding this symptom of illness is critical for policymakers. At times they are most ill and needing care, individuals experiencing anosognosia are least likely to seek help or willingly engage with treatment. See Seattle Times, Jan. 3, 2022: Why people often can’t recognize their own mental illness. 

• Reduce HIPAA barriers to family engagement. The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) provides this resource: Permitted disclosures of mental health information and substance use disorder information without patient consent. Advocacy is needed to promote accurate understanding about what HIPAA allows, especially with safety concern. HIPAA never blocked families from sharing mental health history and information with providers.

To subscribe to our Blog and receive occasional email updates, please sign up below.