Going Under the Microscope is a program to support Mainers with serious mental health issues. Augusta’s lawyers on Monday tried to argue that the graduated treatment program should have been used to help a Polish man who is now charged with murder. “I am the parent of Justin Butterfield’s two beautiful children whose lives were ruined and who fell victim to a system that failed Justin, his brother Gabriel Damour and my family,” Yaicha Provencher said. A public advocate for a program she only just learned about, Provencher thinks her ex-boyfriend Justin Butterfield should have gone through a phased treatment program. Butterfield is accused of killing his brother during Thanksgiving in Poland, after years of brief hospitalizations and run-ins with the law. “How come his support team didn’t know about it and demanded that the hospital put him on this plan?” Because if I knew, I would have done it, and I believe his team would have done it too,” Provencher said. Relatives can request that a person be placed in a parole program following a psychiatric hospitalization with the approval of a judge. They are required to maintain the treatment. The bill’s original sponsor, former state senator John Nutting, says it is underutilized. “It’s cruel (and) it’s inhumane, in our view,” he said. Nutting thinks 80 Mainers are using the program, but thinks it should be available to hundreds. “This fundamental misunderstanding and misdiagnosis of anosognosia needs to stop,” Nutting said. Nutting tries to reshape the language around the question. He says the program is for people with serious brain disorders, adding that he thinks using the program is compassionate for people diagnosed with anosognosia who don’t understand their ailments. Provencher now finds purpose in promoting programs that she believes should have been adopted years ago. “We have to do better for those who cannot help themselves,” she said. A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services said the agency uses the graduated treatment program legally and continues to support alternatives to involuntary commitment, calling it a “last resort.”
Going Under the Microscope is a program to support Mainers with serious mental health issues.
Augusta’s lawyers on Monday tried to argue that the graduated treatment program should have been used to help a Polish man who is now charged with murder.
“I am the parent of Justin Butterfield’s two beautiful children whose lives were ruined and who fell victim to a system that failed Justin, his brother Gabriel Damour and my family,” Yaicha Provencher said.
A public advocate for a program she only just learned about, Provencher thinks her ex-boyfriend Justin Butterfield should have gone through a phased treatment program.
Butterfield is accused of killing his brother during Thanksgiving in Poland, after years of brief hospitalizations and run-ins with the law.
“How come his support team didn’t know about it and demanded that the hospital put him on this plan?” Because if I knew, I would have done it, and I believe his team would have done it too,” Provencher said.
Relatives can request that a person be placed in a parole program following a psychiatric hospitalization with the approval of a judge.
They are required to maintain the treatment.
The bill’s original sponsor, former state senator John Nutting, says it is underutilized.
“It’s cruel (and) it’s inhumane, in our view,” he said.
Nutting thinks 80 Mainers are using the program, but thinks it should be available to hundreds.
“This fundamental misunderstanding and misdiagnosis of anosognosia needs to stop,” Nutting said.
Nutting tries to reshape the language around the question.
He says the program is for people with serious brain disorders, adding that he thinks using the program is compassionate for people diagnosed with anosognosia who don’t understand their ailments.
Provencher now finds purpose in promoting programs that she believes should have been adopted years ago.
“We have to do better for those who cannot help themselves,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services said the agency uses the graduated treatment program legally and continues to support alternatives to involuntary commitment, calling it a “last resort.”
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