DNC Minutes - June 24, 2014

DNC Board Minutes – June 24, 2014

13 board members, 1 guest

Agenda

Guest – Ron Carten WCMHN

Meeting with City

Street Market

DNC/VANDU Tenant Meeting

Film Stipend

Community Forum

AGM

Grants Update

Motion to adopt agenda, motion passes

X reads minutes. Motion to accept minutes. Motion passes.

Guest

West Coast Mental Health Network on Pender near Cambie St.

Peer program. Funding was cut in December last year by VCH, but have some funding from City.

Assertive Community Treatment – Psychiatrist, social worker, nurse, sometimes police officer. Primarily to monitor whether people are taking their medications.

Section of Mental Health Act involves involuntary treatment.

When you are in that category, you can be treated against your will.

Your rights essentially, are taken away. There is another section called Involuntary Leave. You are allowed out, but have to abide by medication, etc…

The director of the hospital determines the category, recommended by the psychiatrist.

There have been a challenge to involuntary committal under section 7. The BCCLA has produced a pamphlet – and they are hoping to challenge the mental health act.

What the act argues is that mental health is a special case and people don’t know their own good. There needs to be choice in care, and choice in treatment.

Representation agreement act – provides every BC resident a right to appoint a representative. The exception to this is mental health treatment.

Section 15 – is also possibly a good section to use – which prohibits discrimination

Book called DSM4 – this lists all the mental health disorders that psychiatrists can think of.

Group is called madcaps – write letters to politicians. Met with CoV about ACT teams. Tried to get VCH to commit to the principle of Choice in Treatment. They are committed to patients’ rights, but always qualify it.

BCCLA has a position paper.

WCMHN – has a position paper on the representation agreement act. Group was not even invited to be part of the Mental Health Task Force.  They share an office with ARA mental health which was on the task force.

Police officers may now be funded as members of the ACT team by health money.

If a person has an ACT team this means that $30k is being spent on you. This may even be for people that don’t even have housing.

Meeting with City

August some time.

Missing board members

Street Market people were not here

Tenant Rights meeting

DJ Larkin will be there, also Diane from MadCap,

$200 budget for the event

Filming notice – table the program for a month

Community Forum – Need to have an AGM before end of year

Motion to adjourn – moment of silence