Asylums are a logical response; however, the asylums were often very poorly run and abuses did take place (funding is a big issue; this happens in a lot of the halfway houses and nursing homes as well...can't afford or won't afford good help -- it's the patients who suffer). Nothing is ever perfect, but we can do better. The mentally ill are very often not a lot of fun to take care of, but due to their condition, they deserve our care. Certainly we should do better than to leave them on the streets.
One big fix would be to segregate the mentally handicapped from the psyche patients -- I used to work for the school system in the LD/BD program (at a separate facility), and it was a mess. The LD kids were targets for the BD kids; it was awful -- most of the day was spent keeping an eye out for abuse of the LD kids. About 7 years ago the district received funding and created a school specifically for the LD, and it was a vast improvement for everybody. We cannot house people with LDs among people with psychological problems, which used to happen at asylums. And, there needs to be more stringent personnel policies.
Maybe bring back asylums, as many homeless are mentally ill
Asylums are a logical response; however, the asylums were often very poorly run and abuses did take place (funding is a big issue; this happens in a lot of the halfway houses and nursing homes as well...can't afford or won't afford good help -- it's the patients who suffer). Nothing is ever perfect, but we can do better. The mentally ill are very often not a lot of fun to take care of, but due to their condition, they deserve our care. Certainly we should do better than to leave them on the streets.
One big fix would be to segregate the mentally handicapped from the psyche patients -- I used to work for the school system in the LD/BD program (at a separate facility), and it was a mess. The LD kids were targets for the BD kids; it was awful -- most of the day was spent keeping an eye out for abuse of the LD kids. About 7 years ago the district received funding and created a school specifically for the LD, and it was a vast improvement for everybody. We cannot house people with LDs among people with psychological problems, which used to happen at asylums. And, there needs to be more stringent personnel policies.