Mental health advocates and lawmakers gathered in Louisville on Monday to celebrate a new Kentucky law they say will give courts more tools to help people living with mental illness. The intent is to help people get treatment before their condition becomes a full-blown crisis.
The reform expands treatment options beyond the previous framework, which often left courts choosing between involuntary hospitalization or releasing a person following a mental health evaluation. Under the old law, courts could typically only intervene if a person posed an immediate danger to themselves or others.
Kelly Gunning, who leads the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Lexington, said that standard left her family without options as her son’s condition worsened…