63jili Providing Care for the Mentally Ill and Homeless

More from our inbox:Election PanicThe Climate StakesNo Republican Fraud?Questions for Trump and VanceImageAllen Ziegler, a psychiatric social worker, waving to motorists as Yoh crossed the street.

To the Editor:63jili

Re “Outreach Teams Try to Rescue Troubled Minds” (Science Times, Oct. 22):

Programs that bring care to our neighbors who are homeless and living on the streets are indispensable components of a rational and humane approach to homelessness and mental illness. This profile of street psychiatry in Los Angeles demonstrates the patience, persistence and heroism these efforts entail.

Much of that same difficult work providing psychiatric and medical care to those who do not have access to it is taken on by organizations in New York City, including the Center for Urban Community Services and its health care affiliate, Janian Medical Care, where I serve as chief medical officer.

Permanent supportive housing will always be the best solution for the homeless mentally ill, but it is a reality that thousands of New Yorkers are now living and will continue to live on our streets. We strive to offer them effective care that is kind, respectful, psychologically minded and trauma-informed. Medications, including long-acting injectables, can significantly improve the lives of people living with schizophrenia and other conditions.

If you encounter a neighbor living outside, chances are we know them. We very likely have offered them care. If they have accepted that care, then we have reduced their suffering and are helping them along their pathway to housing. If they haven’t, we will keep trying.

Van YuNew York

To the Editor:

Ellen Barry’s sensitive article underscores the determination needed to treat mental illness in California. As a psychiatrist who has practiced here since the 1970s, when the doctrine of least restrictive environment for treating the mentally ill was first enforced, I have grown increasingly concerned.

I work with children and adolescents who watch homeless, psychotic individuals on the street as they walk home from school and try hard to stay out of their way. This situation is alarming to my young clients who fear not only for these individuals but also that this life will be their future. I am the former director of an inpatient treatment unit that was closed, deemed unnecessary, but I continue to work with psychotic patients, a practice that is now often frightening for providers.

Inside the Movement Behind Trump’s Election Lies

For years, Republican activists have huddled in video meetings to talk about remaking democracy and plan for the election. The New York Times has obtained the recordings.

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