Lawmakers are seeking reform for state psychiatric treatment during the upcoming 2024 session as complaints about behavioral health care proliferate.  

A panel of lawmakers, behavioral health specialists, law enforcement and emergency services officials met Wednesday on a Joint Legislative Psychiatric Hospital Review Council to examine issues with state psychiatric care for people with serious mental illnesses. 

“I myself have had family members suffer from (serious mental illness),” said co-chairwoman of the council Sen. Justine Wadsack, R-Tucson. “I’ve had to forcibly have my own son put into treatment centers and I’ve watched how the holes in the system failed him repeatedly. How the holes in the system failed my mother repeatedly.” 

Mental health care attorney Josh Mozell and other residents testified to the council on Wednesday and spoke about how people with chronic mental health illnesses are susceptible to experiencing homelessness or jail time due to ineffective care and a lack of residential beds available at treatment centers. 

“When you can’t get a residential bed, you fall through and who catches you,” Mozell said. “It’s police, emergency rooms, families are a huge thing, fire, jail, criminal justice system, homelessness and unfortunately, people die.” 

In an opinion column published by The Arizona Republic, Sens. Catherine Miranda, D- Laveen; and T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, pitched ideas to overhaul mental health care in the state. One priority for them is removing oversight duties from the Arizona Department of Health Services for Arizona State Hospital since the agency also operates the hospital. 

They also called for more residential behavioral facilities and community reintegration units for patients to better transition them from patient discharge.  

“If we actually want to get something done, that means feeling uncomfortable and actually working together with people on the other side of the aisle,” said Rep. Consuelo Hernandez, D-Tucson.  

Wadsack and Rep. Barbara Parker, R-Mesa, said a proposal that establishes secure, long-term residential housing for people experiencing serious mental illnesses was something they were in favor of.  

Wadsack said state lawmakers could also consider converting “empty” government facilities into care facilities since the state budget will be constrained from a projected $400 million deficit.  

Dr. Carol Olson, a Mesa-based psychiatrist, also proposed some potential solutions including the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System reforming its reimbursement process for psychiatric inpatients to incentive hospitals to treat people with chronic mental health illnesses. 

Olson also pitched court-ordered treatments for people with substance abuse disorders that don’t require the person having to be jailed.  

“Traditionally people would always say ‘oh that will only work once the person decides they want help.’ But unfortunately when people are in the midst of a severe addiction, they’re not thinking clearly until their brain has had a chance to kind of dry out for a month or two and I think many of them will at the end of that time begin to participate in treatment and benefit,” Olson said. 

Wadsack also expressed frustration at the lack of representation in the committee hearing from judicial officials and said she wants judges to be more proactive in issuing court-ordered mental health treatments to help law enforcement. She said she wants the council to meet again and hear from AHCCS and judges about individuals who need psychiatric treatment.  

“Clearly we have not been much help because we have the facilities, we have the programs, and then you have the police, the law enforcement; and they’re not able to connect with the actual people that are ready to get the help,” Wadsack said.