By DAVE RANNEY

A proposal that would allow mental health treatment facilities to hold in-crisis patients for up to 72 hours without their consent will be discussed Wednesday during a Kansas Mental Health Coalition meeting. The discussion is scheduled at Valeo Behavioral Health Center, 330 SW Oakley Ave., in Topeka.

“We are entering the season where we start developing our policy recommendations for the coming year, so this will fit right into that,” said Amy Campbell, the group’s executive director. The proposal, which is still in draft form, is meant to give communities the option of setting up crisis-stabilization programs for people with serious and persistent mental illnesses who refuse treatment. The programs would be separate from those for voluntary patients.

Under current law, involuntary patients cannot be held for more than 24 hours — 48 hours on a weekend — without first being taken to court and having a judge decide whether they pose a danger to themselves or others.

Oftentimes, these patients remain in jail or are taken to the state hospitals in Larned or Osawatomie because they are in crisis, uncooperative and have nowhere else to go.

The proposal is meant to provide treatment for people who’ve not committed a serious crime without exposing them to the courts, jail or a state hospital. Some advocates for the mentally ill are expected to raise concerns about the proposal being used to hold people against their will.

Dave Ranney is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.