Is Michigan’s mental health system set up to help the severely ill? Some experts say no

The mass stabbing at a Traverse City area Walmart is shining a light on Michigan's difficulties in ensuring severely mentally ill individuals receive continuous care, including involuntary commitment, after a man with a history of mental illness was accused of committing the crimes, experts said. Joel Young, MD was quoted extensively in this article in The Detroit News.

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"Our will to hospitalize people long-term has diminished, and that’s really why we have situations that fall through the cracks," said Dr. Joel Young, the chief medical officer of the clinical trials group at the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine in Rochester Hills.Though the majority of those with a mental illness are not violent, untreated severe issues can lead to tragedies such as the Walmart stabbings, Young said.