DC AG warns hospitals of involuntary hospitalizations

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Apologies if this should be in the 7 nights of action thread but it seems like a topic worthy of separate attention and discussion.

This is just insane.

https://www.washingtonian.com/2025/08/11/dc-ag-warns-involuntary-commitments-dc-trump-homeless/

You want mentally ill people staying on the streets?

+1

DP: You guys have never studied or worked on the streets with this issue at all. Think this through. Where are they going to go? Is there room? Who is paying for it? Is there enough money? What if they don't want to stay there?

What about the homeless who have already begun the long and difficult process of getting help by establishing relationships with volunteers on the streets who are earning their trust and working through the system to get that person available help? What happens when the person is arrested and moved to God knows where and cannot be found by the trained professional person they used to trust? They are back behind square 1.

Why are they homeless? What has been done to change the conditions that put them on the streets in the first place? Who is actually doing the work to solve those problems and who is making it impossible to address those problems?

IF Trump actually cares about these people, why isn't he asking the folks who work this issue for a living what resources they actually need to help this population?

Because he doesn't care -- he doesn't want to help them; he wants them gone. He just doesn't want to see tents on the way to his golf course.

This. A 72 hour psych hold will accomplish nothing except more fear and trauma. Which I suppose is Trump's goal.

If he cared about poverty and homelessness, he certainly wouldn't be cutting medicaid, snap, and HUD.

He wants fear and trauma so he’s trying to get the homeless off the streets??

Some of you are so brainwashed that you can’t even think logically about issues. You have liberals on here criticizing sending homeless people to the hospitals for medical assistance. It’s like left wing people arguing that illegals should be able to remain for low wage jobs (farm workers for example). Since when do liberals want to take advantage of American workers? Since when do you want people living on the streets?

Homelessness is a big problem, much worse here than other countries and I welcome ideas about what to do about it.

Yes, he wants to create fear and trauma among homeless people.

We know how to address homelessness -- affordable housing, no barrier substance abuse treatment, mental health care available but not forced, a harm reduction model toward drug use. What does 72 hours in a crowded ER accomplish? Especially when it is likely to be uncompensated care, stretching safety net hospitals even more.

Except we’ve been trying that for decades and it hasn’t helped. Either go to treatment or go to jail.

What will the charge be if they are put in jail?

Jails are bursting at the seams and grossly understaffed

actually look at all the jail contracts w/ the governments and who owns these essentially privatized firms that provide many services to jails. The main ones are all huge trump donors. They would love nothing more than to incarcerate as many homeless and mentally ill as possible. Look at what we pay pp for someone incarcerated

They wouldn't. If you look at privatized jails, they take only young, healthy, low risk criminals. Ideally, criminals that will cycle through the system a few times.

Anyone that is likely to need medical treatments, or is a risk to the other prisoners, is left in the federal prisons. The private prisons want the easy "problems" because the pay is the same. Spending money on medication or more guards eats into profits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apologies if this should be in the 7 nights of action thread but it seems like a topic worthy of separate attention and discussion.

This is just insane.

https://www.washingtonian.com/2025/08/11/dc-ag-warns-involuntary-commitments-dc-trump-homeless/

You want mentally ill people staying on the streets?

+1

DP: You guys have never studied or worked on the streets with this issue at all. Think this through. Where are they going to go? Is there room? Who is paying for it? Is there enough money? What if they don't want to stay there?

What about the homeless who have already begun the long and difficult process of getting help by establishing relationships with volunteers on the streets who are earning their trust and working through the system to get that person available help? What happens when the person is arrested and moved to God knows where and cannot be found by the trained professional person they used to trust? They are back behind square 1.

Why are they homeless? What has been done to change the conditions that put them on the streets in the first place? Who is actually doing the work to solve those problems and who is making it impossible to address those problems?

IF Trump actually cares about these people, why isn't he asking the folks who work this issue for a living what resources they actually need to help this population?

Because he doesn't care -- he doesn't want to help them; he wants them gone. He just doesn't want to see tents on the way to his golf course.

This. A 72 hour psych hold will accomplish nothing except more fear and trauma. Which I suppose is Trump's goal.

If he cared about poverty and homelessness, he certainly wouldn't be cutting medicaid, snap, and HUD.

He wants fear and trauma so he’s trying to get the homeless off the streets??

Some of you are so brainwashed that you can’t even think logically about issues. You have liberals on here criticizing sending homeless people to the hospitals for medical assistance. It’s like left wing people arguing that illegals should be able to remain for low wage jobs (farm workers for example). Since when do liberals want to take advantage of American workers? Since when do you want people living on the streets?

Homelessness is a big problem, much worse here than other countries and I welcome ideas about what to do about it.

How about a house for them? Staffed with people who will make sure they take their meds and feed them MAHA sanctioned food.

A 72 hour hold does nothing. Sending them to an ER isn’t helpful.

How about funding mental health beds so everyone who needs care can access it.

We have “billions in tariff funds”. Great- use it to help those who need it.

You need a house for each. These people tend to be paranoid as part of their underlying illness so they can't share spaces or "people will take their stuff." Of course, the staff will be accused of this, and we will need to suspend the staff while the investigation is underway. So, we need enough staff to suspend while investigations are underway.

[Anonymous]

The bar to consider an immediate danger to self or others is high-people can be depressed/hostile/even have violent or self harm thoughts on the regular and that is not enough unless there is reason to believe they are in danger of acting on them in the near future.

That’s the standard of care (and the law) and it would need to change if these idiots want a different standard applied. And of course it would then be applied to everyone, not just homeless people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The bar to consider an immediate danger to self or others is high-people can be depressed/hostile/even have violent or self harm thoughts on the regular and that is not enough unless there is reason to believe they are in danger of acting on them in the near future.

That’s the standard of care (and the law) and it would need to change if these idiots want a different standard applied. And of course it would then be applied to everyone, not just homeless people.

No, you wouldn't be able to use it to detain Republicans because they are always thinking about hurting people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a healthcare professional, this is infuriating. If the government actually wants to get involved in "helping" the homeless with mental health issues they would invest money into our abysmal mental health system. I have patients waiting days, if not weeks, on holds in the ER waiting for inpatient psych beds. It's a completely inappropriate place for them because they are not getting the care they need and the atmosphere is not helpful. And it takes up resources that we don't have.

Do we go back to pre-Reagan times and open mental institutions (hopefully with better care)?

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I work in inpatient psych and census is low right now. I am attaching the Maryland Bed Board for Psych beds. There ARE open beds in the Maryland counties surrounding DC. https://health.maryland.gov/bha/Pages/hospitalcoordination.aspx

Census generally goes down in the summer, as homeless adults are not trying to escape from the cold and adolescents aren't stressed out by school. (The ones in distress also are not able to be referred by teachers and counselors over the summer, unfortunately).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I work in inpatient psych and census is low right now. I am attaching the Maryland Bed Board for Psych beds. There ARE open beds in the Maryland counties surrounding DC. https://health.maryland.gov/bha/Pages/hospitalcoordination.aspx

Census generally goes down in the summer, as homeless adults are not trying to escape from the cold and adolescents aren't stressed out by school. (The ones in distress also are not able to be referred by teachers and counselors over the summer, unfortunately).

I'm not able to find the equivalent Bed Board for psych beds at DC hospitals (this would include PIW, GW, Sibley, Children's, and Georgetown). A few of the DC hospitals show up on the Maryland Bed Board. The thing is, even if the mentally ill homeless show up at our hospitals, they cannot be admitted unwillingly to our hospitals unless two physicians certify that they are a danger to themselves or others. The same standard holds once they are admitted. They do not have to take medications unwillingly unless they are a danger to themselves or others. In this country, you have the right to be mentally ill.

We treat homeless patients every day and it is a privilege to help those who want help. They face many obstacles on the outside.