Advertise on podcast: Committable

In this series I look at Peer Respites throughout the United States and try to better understand how this model of care provides safe, noncarceral opportunities for people experiencing distress. And in this episode I speak with Jason Robison, Chief Program Officer for SHARE! The Self-Help and Recovery Exchange. We talk about the SHARE! Recovery Retreat, as well as a broader discussion about Jason’s approach to peer support and how to cultivate more humanity while navigating complex systems. SHARE!: https://www.shareselfhelp.org/ Jason Robison: https://www.shareselfhelp.org/copy-of-lara-skutt-coo-chro Recovery Retreat: https://www.shareselfhelp.org/recovery-retreat  

In this series I work with Leah Harris to look at Assisted Outpatient Treatment laws throughout the United States. Assisted Outpatient Treatment, often referred to as AOT, is a form of involuntary outpatient commitment that leverages the use of a court order to coerce people into compliance. Leah Harris: https://truthout.org/articles/massachusetts-advocates-resist-dystopian-involuntary-outpatient-commitment-bill/  

In this episode I speak with Steve Schwartz, Special Counsel at the Center for Public Representation. We talk about an AOT bill currently working its way through the Massachusetts legislature and break down some of the more concerning aspects of the MA bill specifically, as well as questions and concerns related to the implementation of other outpatient commitment laws throughout the country. Center for Public Representation: https://www.centerforpublicrep.org  

In this episode I speak with Fern, Director of the Wild Ivy Social Justice Network. We talk about concerns related to an involuntary outpatient commitment bill currently before the Massachusetts legislature, as well as some of the non-carceral alternatives that currently exist in that state. Wild Ivy Social Justice Network: https://wildfloweralliance.org/wild-ivy/  

In this episode I reunite with Leah Harris to talk about the concept of Forcewashing, a term that Leah coined in an article about an Involuntary Outpatient Commitment bill currently being considered in Massachusetts. Leah Harris: https://truthout.org/articles/massachusetts-advocates-resist-dystopian-involuntary-outpatient-commitment-bill/ E. Fuller Torrey Interview: youtube.com/watch?si=DPAuc_viybzgY4ur&v=7A8xgpYV46o&feature=youtu.be Jeffrey Lieberman Quote: https://www.tmz.com/2025/12/22/jeffrey-lieberman-calls-nick-reiner-facilities-scams/  

In this episode I speak with attorney Elizabeth Rich about her experiences navigating mental health laws in Wisconsin. Elizabeth brings a multifaceted perspective to her work weaving together experience as an attorney, an advocate, and as a parent of someone who was directly impacted by these systems. Andrew’s V.O.I.C.E: www.andrewsvoice.org

When a leaked HHS budget proposal suggested that Protection & Advocacy organizations might experience significant reductions to their federal funding, it frightened me. I have been involuntarily detained in psychiatric facilities, and although it has been over 20 years since I went through those experiences I am still haunted by them. The trauma caused when someone is forced into these systems can be instantaneous. It can have a pervasive and irreparable impact on the person experiencing it. And for someone like me, someone who has been forced into facilities and deemed mentally unfit to be free, Protection & Advocacy organizations are the federally empowered watchdogs that can provide a glimmer of hope. When properly resourced, these organizations may genuinely be the safeguard preventing some states from devolving back to the horrific dehumanization embodied in tragedies like the Willowbrook State School in New York.  So, yeah, hearing that these organizations might be severely diminished frightened me. To try and better communicate what these organizations do, and the type of impact that they can have, I am doing a series of interviews with people from P&As throughout the United States. This is the first episode in that series where I spoke with attorneys from Disability Law Colorado about the work they do and why P&As are important.   Disability Law Colorado: https://disabilitylawco.org  

In this episode I speak with advocates and attorneys from Disability Rights Center New Hampshire. We spoke broadly about the work they do as New Hampshire's Protection & Advocacy organization but we also spoke in detail about a tremendously concerning practice called "conditional discharge". With a conditional discharge a person who has been committed to a mental health facility can be forced into a frightening form of outpatient commitment that could potentially last for decades. Disability Rights Center: https://drcnh.org/ Conditional Discharge: https://drcnh.org/disability-issue-areas/mental-health/conditional-discharge/  

The tragedies uncovered at Willowbrook State School helped bring visibility to the types of horrors that can be inflicted upon vulnerable people when the the authority of institutions goes unchecked. The Protection & Advocacy system was forged out of this type of exposure and while many things have changed since Willowbrook, the P&A system is just as necessary now as it was then. So when I started this series focused on learning more about Protection & Advocacy organizations it seemed fitting to talk to the people doing this type of work in the state where, in many ways, it all started. In this conversation I talk with Tim Clune and Jennifer Monthie from Disability Rights New York about the work they do, the legacy of the P&A system, and why it's important that this work continues. Disability Rights New York: https://www.drny.org/

Disability Rights North Carolina recently released a report titled “Involuntary Commitment in NC: Overused, Misused, and Harmful”. This report lays out observations and recommendations that are the result of years of monitoring a broken system. It includes tragic stories, alarming trends, and practices that resonated with my own experiences with involuntary hospitalization and commitment. To learn more about the report, and the work that DRNC is doing to try and change these systems for the better, I spoke with Corye Dunn. Disability Rights North Carolina https://disabilityrightsnc.org/ Involuntary Commitment in NC: Overused, Misused, and Harmful https://disabilityrightsnc.org/news/involuntary-commitment-in-nc-overused-misused-and-harmful/  

Disability Rights California recently released a report titled Let Me Go: Excessive Restraint of Patients at College Hospital. This report provides an important example of why we need Protection & Advocacy organizations in place, and properly funded, to monitor and investigate abuse and neglect. So to learn more about the report and the work that DRC is doing I spoke with Liz Logsdon and Robert Reyes Villagómez. Disability Rights California: https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/ Let Me Go: Excessive Restraint of Patients at College Hospital: https://www.disabilityrightsca.org/drc-advocacy/investigations/let-me-go-excessive-restraint-of-patients-at-college-hospital  

In this episode I speak with Gwen Orlowski, Executive Director of Disability Rights New Jersey. We discuss the statutory authorities given to all P&A organizations as well as the specific work that DRNJ has been engaged in. Work that includes investigations into abuse and neglect in nursing homes, advocacy around the state’s expansion of initial involuntary hospitalizations from 72 hours to 144 hours, and a recent lawsuit filed in relation to Conditional Extension Pending Placement, or CEPP. CEPP is an incredibly concerning process that allows a psychiatric facility to continue to involuntarily detain a person past the point where a court has said the legally required criteria for commitment is no longer present.    Disability Rights New Jersey: https://disabilityrightsnj.org/ CEPP litigation: https://disabilityrightsnj.org/whats-new/systemic-litigation/  

As a person with a history of psychiatric disabilities, involuntary hospitalizations and a civil commitment, I know that I will always be vulnerable to the carceral whims of legislators. I am forever trapped in the trauma of my most desperate moment, a point in time where the state declared that I was mentally unfit to be free. And I will forever fear how easy it would be for someone to decide that I should be locked away and disappeared like that again. But over the past several years I have been privileged to talk with attorneys, advocates, and people with lived experience who are fighting to create change. Fighting to protect the rights, humanity, and dignity of the vulnerable people who are being forced into these systems. So as I continue to explore the work of Protection & Advocacy organizations throughout the United States I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity to speak with Nancy Murphy from the Disability Law Center. DLC is the P&A for Massachusetts and we spoke about the importance of Protection & Advocacy organizations and the complicated state and federal guardrails that they have to navigate. Disability Law Center: https://www.dlc-ma.org/ Six Fundamental Rights: https://www.dlc-ma.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Six-Fundamental-Rights-2025.01.pdf Representative Payee Program: https://www.dlc-ma.org/representative-payee-program/ Bridgewater Report: https://www.dlc-ma.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/DLC-BSH-Public-Report-to-Legislature-2.6.2025-Final-w.-Apps-1.pdf  

In this episode I speak with Ruth Lowenkron, Director of the Disability Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. We talk about the basic principles of due process in relation to involuntary hospitalizations as well as concerns about the ongoing expansion of commitment laws in New York. NYLPI: https://www.nylpi.org/ NYLPI report on Kendra’s Law: https://www.nylpi.org/nylpi-releases-new-report-implementation-of-kendras-law-continues-to-be-severely-biased/

In this episode I speak with Mark Joyce from Disability Rights Maine about the importance of Protection and Advocacy Organizations and how DRM works in collaboration with their PAIMI Advisory Council. We also talk about a deeply concerning gap in Maine law that allows for prolonged and potentially indefinite detention in an emergency department. This type of unintentional due process deficiency exists in mental health laws throughout the United States and Mark highlights some of the many reasons why it is essential for state legislators to correct these policies. Disability Rights Maine: https://drme.org/ Short Interview with Senator Lowell Weicker and John Doyle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x45XG4c5A3c Transcript of 1985 Hearings: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED263712.pdf Blog Post about psychiatric hospitals refusing admissions, leading to prolonged detention in EDs: https://drme.org/author/mark-joyce/