Judge Milton Mack

And he would then be at risk of harm, harm in the form of drug abuse, suicide, increased risk for dementia, and so forth.

And the court of appeals said, yeah, that's good enough.

But how, looking at the total circumstance, would you get somebody into treatment?

What we've done in Michigan is we actually have a system of mediation for mental health cases, which I think is kind of unique.

Works best for petitions where you ask for outpatient treatment only.

So we have a system in Michigan now where you can file a petition with the probate court, don't go to the hospital, don't go to the police department.

The person, let me put it this way.

When I'm hearing cases in probate court, and I'd ask family members, when did he stop taking his medication?

And they say six months ago, eight months ago.

We all know where this is going.

We're just waiting for the magic moment.

Well, no, we don't have to wait anymore.

So you can file a petition with the probate court and get a hearing on whether to order outpatient treatment.

And then as an extra tool, instead of going to a full hearing, you can say, let's go to mediation.

So we have mediation centers across the state.

We have about 100 mediators who are trained in mental health issues to mediate these disputes.

If you're going to mediate an agreement with someone who has a mental illness, you have engagement.

You have the likelihood of compliance.

I have four bills pending in the legislature right now.

They have passed the Senate around the floor of the House as we speak.