Hurricane Irma: A Chance to Lock up the Homeless in Miami

You know how so many people pull together in a natural disaster, treating each other with more kindness, care, and pitching in to help? While hunkering down here in the path of the hurricane approaching Fort Myers, Florida, I’ve seen many people lending a hand helping strangers. It’s been very heartwarming. But I’ve also seen a darker side here in Florida. Some officials have discovered that Hurricane Irma is a different kind of opportunity — to clear the homeless from the streets of Miami. Police, working in conjunction with an activist group and a handful of mental health professionals, are giving homeless individuals what seems like a simple choice: either go to a shelter or get sent for a psychiatric evaluation against their will. This is a flagrant violation of a person’s individual liberties, twisting a law meant to protect people with a mental illness. The law was not crafted to make people do all manner of things against their will. We know Hurricane Irma, when it hits Florida sometime on Sunday, will be a disaster for the state. Hurricanes of this magnitude usually cause a lot of property destruction, but very few deaths. When the storm skated across the Caribbean, it has caused less than 2 dozen deaths. In comparison, a monsoon in India just a few weeks ago caused over 1,200 deaths, but barely made news here in the U.S. It’s this specter of seemingly-preventable death that is apparently motivating the police and certain mental h...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Criminal Justice General Mental Health and Wellness Policy and Advocacy Trauma Baker act homeless and mental illness Homeless People homeless rights hurricane irma Natural Disaster Source Type: blogs