Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Children Who Were Held In Psychiatric Hospitals After They’d Been Cleared By Doctors For Release

ProPublica: Lawsuit Targets Illinois’ Child Welfare Agency Over Children Languishing in Psychiatric Hospitals
The Acting Cook County Public Guardian filed a class-action lawsuit Thursday on behalf of hundreds of children and teenagers in state care who have been held in psychiatric hospitals after they had been cleared by doctors for release, calling the practice inhumane and unconstitutional. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has a constitutional responsibility to ensure that children in the department’s care, whose lives are already marked by trauma, are not unnecessarily held in psychiatric hospitals, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Chicago. (Eldeib, 12/13)

The Washington Post: Teen Suicide: A Boy Tried To Kill Himself By Jumping From A Highway Bridge. He Killed A Driver Instead.
There was no way she could have seen him, the boy on the bridge. Marisa Harris was driving her Ford Escape down a Northern Virginia highway, heading home after a peaceful afternoon hike at Burke Lake. Her boyfriend, Perry Muth, was stretched out in the passenger seat as they cruised east on Interstate 66 toward the bridge, an overpass suspended across the busy highway. (Contrera, 12/13)

ProPublica: Chicago Psychiatric Hospital Will Remain Open For Now
A Chicago psychiatric hospital just two days from losing federal funding, potentially forcing it to shut down, will remain open for now, following a judge’s ruling Thursday. Federal officials had told Aurora Chicago Lakeshore Hospital they would terminate its Medicare agreement on Saturday after a November inspection found the hospital could not ensure its patients were free from sexual and physical abuse and did not have adequate policies and procedures in place to investigate abuse allegations. (Eldeib, 12/13)

The New York Times: New York City Agrees To Pay $2 Million To Family Of Mentally Ill Woman Killed By Police
New York City has agreed to a $2 million settlement with the family of a mentally ill woman who was fatally shot by a New York City police sergeant two years ago as she wielded a bat in the bedroom of her Bronx apartment, city officials said Thursday. The agreement, which was reached this week, is the latest development in a highly contentious and at times racially charged debate surrounding the death of the woman, Deborah Danner. The case became a flash point in national discussions over whether police officers are too quick to shoot people and whether they are adequately trained to work with people suffering from severe mental illness. (Stevens and Goldstein, 12/13)

Des Moines Register: Suicides Are Rising In Iowa; Here's What People Are Doing To Stop It
Some 476 Iowans died by suicide in 2017, per the latest data from the Iowa Department of Health and the Center for Disease Control. That number has increased by more than 66 percent since 2000, including nearly doubling in the last decade. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death both in Iowa and the nation. ...Suicides by Iowans tied or surpassed 17-year highs in 10 of 16 age groups tracked by the state. Iowans between 55-74 amounted for nearly a quarter of all suicides in 2017. (Finney, 12/13)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Police Recruit Accused Of Criminal Threatening To Undergo Mental Health Evaluation
A man accused of threatening violence at the New Hampshire Police Academy graduation has been sent to Concord Hospital for a mental health evaluation. According to court documents, fellow classmates say 24-year-old Laconia Police Department recruit Noah Beaulieu talked about bringing 30-round magazines of ammunition and shooting those attending the academy graduation scheduled for Friday. (Garrova, 12/13)