Mental Health Care

To bring more science to psychotherapy, some psychologists endorse a new accreditation system that would effectively call "Time's up!" on clinical programs it feels devalue science. To enter practice, aspiring clinical psychologists must first attain a doctoral-level degree from an accredited institution. The accrediting body governed by the American Psychological Assn. is widely considered the field's standard, though state licensing boards vary in terms of which accreditation system they recognize.

Suicides among veterans average 18 a day, by the government's estimation, and a backlog of disability claims for post-traumatic stress disorder and other untreated ailments approaches 1 million. With a massive military drawdown from Iraq and Afghanistan potentially on the horizon, lawyers for the veterans want a federal appeals court to order the Department of Veterans Affairs to make good on the nation's commitment to take care of those wounded in mind as well as body. It is an onerous task that a lower court has already deemed beyond the power of the judiciary to correct.

Judge Michael Tynan stepped down from the bench and congratulated five criminal defendants who had turned their lives around. His voice cracked as he told them how proud he was, and then he threw a party and passed out pieces of chocolate cake, with hugs all around. In Orange County Superior Court, a beaming Judge Wendy Lindley congratulated felons on their successful reforms and then led the cheers, with spectators and court personnel joining in.

In a move to improve mental healthcare in the troubled juvenile justice system, Los Angeles County probation officials are asking that a 70-bed hospital in Sylmar be built to house and treat the most seriously ill youths in custody. The facility, which would cost an estimated $5 million to $10 million, would make it possible to transfer incarcerated juveniles now held in 24-hour isolation into a clinical setting, said Probation Chief Robert Taylor.

Los Angeles County's chief mental health official said Tuesday that he is working to reduce the number of times his staff forwards emergency assistance calls involving the mentally ill to police, a practice that has grown over the last year as fewer hospital beds have been available to treat such patients. Marvin J. Southard, called before the Board of Supervisors after news reports highlighted the problem, told the board he is in talks with county health officials to find better options.

Los Angeles County's Board of Supervisors passed a 5-year, $62-million plan Tuesday to improve mental health services, taking a step toward fulfilling a 5-year-old settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of children in foster care. Advocates for foster children hope the plan will improve access to mental health care, a chief objective of a 2003 settlement reached after allegations of serious shortfalls in the screening and treatment of children in the county's foster care system.

Wider use of antidepressants and other prescription medications has reduced the role of psychotherapy, once the defining characteristic of psychiatric care, according to an analysis published today. The percentage of patients who received psychotherapy fell to 28.9% in 2004-05 from 44.4% in 1996-97, the report in Archives of General Psychiatry said.

When Little Tokyo Lofts opened in downtown a few years ago, they were billed as the antidote to suburban living. Press materials lured buyers to the former Westinghouse industrial building by promising luxury lofts in an about-to-be-gentrified "vibrant neighborhood" -- which just happened to be at the edge of skid row. And buyers bought the condos, near the corner of 5th and San Pedro streets, hoping that the upscale amenities that had surfaced in other parts of town would follow them there.

Re "Britney's Law? Not so crazy," Opinion, Jan. 10 I disagree with Patt Morrison's view that psychiatric treatment is nicer than it was 50 years ago. Instead of straitjackets, chemical straitjackets are now used: debilitating and addictive drugs. And such barbaric treatments as shock are still being used. Any forced treatment is a violation of human rights. People who are depressed or distraught are aware that they are suffering. If they experience relief from treatment, they will accept it willingly.

A mentally ill man who broke his neck in a Glenn County jail cell and is now a quadriplegic has filed suit in federal court, alleging jail officials violated his constitutional rights by denying him mental health care and using excessive force to subdue him with Taser guns and pepper spray. In addition to monetary damages, the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S.