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Confusion Over Laws Impedes Aid For Mentally Ill
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"We don't need any more commissions or task forces. We know what to do," said Michael J. Fitzpatrick, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, based in Arlington. "The president's task force report is a disappointment. It repeats much of what we have known for years. It talks about encouraging people to get help when they need it -- when the real problem is that help often is not available."
Others said that the report heightens concerns about how to protect the privacy rights of those who are deemed mentally ill while giving family members access to pertinent information.
"It's becoming a bigger and bigger issue," said Mary Zdanowicz, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center in Arlington. "There are a lot of families getting frustrated."
In addition to making suggestions on mental health issues, the report also recommends that schools develop procedures for quickly notifying students when emergencies occur.
Virginia Tech officials waited more than two hours to alert the more than 25,000 students that two students had been fatally shot that morning. By then, Cho was in another campus building, where he killed 30 more people.
The report and gun-control legislation come as Virginia conducts its own investigation into the shooting. Relatives of shooting victims have raised concerns about that investigation, saying that they should be represented on a state panel.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) said yesterday that he had been in regular contact with many family members since early May and had offered to put them in touch with the panel.
"I really felt that in my dialogue with family members, I had connected everybody who wanted to be connected with the panel," Kaine said.
Kaine said he didn't think it would be appropriate to name a relative to the panel. "I kind of view the panel in a way kind of almost like a jury. They are sitting in judgment, and it is a tradition in juries -- folks with a direct connection to the event are not on the jury," said Kaine, noting that there is no Virginia Tech representative on the panel.
Staff writers Tim Craig and Michael Abramowitz contributed to this report.
