Tamil Nadu is formulating a policy to streamline the processes involved in the rescue-to-rehabilitation of homeless persons with mental illness, facilitating their reunion with family and reintegration into society. The policy will not only put in place structured services for the wandering mentally-ill but also define the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders.
Following an announcement in the Health budget that a State Policy for Homeless Persons with Mental Illness will be released, the National Health Mission, Tamil Nadu is preparing a draft policy. This is expected to standardise the process of rescue, recovery, rehabilitation of homeless persons with mental illness and bring in uniformity across the State, officials said.
The State has for long been involved in the rescue and rehabilitation, reunion and reintegration of wandering mentally ill persons. It was to strengthen the existing efforts and ensure proper care for the homeless mentally-ill persons that the policy is being drafted.
“We are coming up with a plan of action for the wandering mentally-ill, from end-to-end. There are challenges when various departments work together in the rescue and rehabilitation of homeless persons with mental illness. So, for every stage of the process, we will be defining the roles of the various departments,” an official said, adding that stakeholders from various departments and civil societies/NGOs will be involved in the entire process of rescue to rehabilitation.
As per standards and protocols, rehabilitation of persons with mental illness should not take place in mental health institutions but at the community-level, aiming at social inclusion, the official said, adding: “Presently, the Emergency Care and Recovery Centres (ECRC) that cater to the wandering mentally-ill in the State follow a method starting from rescue to immediate care/admission, recovery, rehabilitation, reuniting with family, social inclusion and continuum of care. The aim of the policy is to strengthen these processes and bring in uniformity across the State. Various NGOs are also involved, and we want to have common procedures in place.”
It is expected that the policy will focus on monitoring of rescue operation/reunion with family through the District Mental Health Committees, enabling social reintegration through supported accommodation, ensuring continuum of care by linking to District Mental Health Programme and providing a rehabilitation package that takes a bio-psychosocial approach that includes provision of social welfare benefits to them, officials said.
