Judge Milton Mack

Second, outpatient treatment should be the default remedy in mental health proceedings.

Third, there should be procedural reforms to simplify the process for going forward.

I mean, for example, a psychiatric nurse practitioner with experience in psychiatry ought to be able to testify in probate proceedings.

And then finally, this might be the hardest one, is having a pathway for emergency psychiatric assessment and intervention.

I was part of a group that took a look at this, and basically someone could be certified to require care, and then for seven days, they could provide care over objection.

And after seven days, if it's still a problem, then you would petition.

But up with those four pillars, we could intervene earlier and do a lot better job.

Appreciate your time.

We appreciate your work, Tony.

You know, I think we might even be underestimating the public interest in this area.

A couple of years ago, the Michigan Supreme Court decided to set up a strategic planning process.

And in that process, we did a survey of our internal users and our external users and gave them 20 problems.

And the external and internal users all identified mental illness and substance abuse as the number one issue affecting the courts.

So the Michigan and Spain courts said, okay, our number one strategic priority for next year is behavioral health.

We hired a behavioral health administrator, which was one of the recommendations of the National Task Force.

And more states are doing that now.

I know Illinois did.

I assume Arizona has.

I would bet on that one.

Not sure about California.