I guess they donÂ’t follow up on court-ordered treatment in Virginia.

Seung Hui Cho never received the treatment ordered by a judge who declared him dangerously mentally ill less than two years before his rampage at Virginia Tech, law enforcement officials said, exposing flaws in Virginia's labyrinthine mental health system, including confusion about the law, spotty enforcement and inadequate funding.

Neither the court, the university nor community services officials followed up on the judge's order, according to dozens of interviews. Cho never got the treatment, according to authorities who have seen his medical files. And although state law says the community services board should have made sure Cho got help, a board official said that was "news to us."

Would more aggressive follow-up have prevented the shootings? We can’t know, but one cannot help but believe that Cho’s illness might have been mitigated if he had received the treatment – or he might have been committed to a secure facility as a danger to others. The courts and mental health authorities clearly dropped the ball here.

And sadly, such cases are all too common. A decade ago, when I worked on the mental health crisis team in a rural county in Illinois, and I saw how folks were often let go when they needed treatment. One young man attempted suicide with a shotgun, but was released less than 72 hours later with an appointment for the following week with a counselor. He didn’t make the appointment – he blew his brains out less than 24 hours after he returned home. I have often wondered over the past 10 years whether I could have done something more – though I know I did all I could in sending him to where he might have gotten treatment. Such systemic flaws, you see, are not limited to Virginia.

Posted by: Greg at 10:57 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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