HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – This past weekend’s murder-suicide in Ionia County highlights a need that a Lakeshore state lawmaker wants addressed.
I-96 near Clarksville was closed for hours while investigators probed the circumstances that led to the deaths of a couple in their 50’s and the wounding of an 18-year-old woman. It was believed that the man killed the older woman and shot the teen before turning the gun on himself.
Representative Mary Whiteford is drafting legislation that would establish a state database for available beds at psychiatric facilities, as well as setting up a hotline for those seeking help. “We may only have one chance to find a resource for somebody who is in a crisis, or for a mom who sees her child who is in a crisis.” she said during her monthly appearance on Monday’s “WHTC Talk of the Town” program with host Ed Ver Schure. “They’ll call, and if they can’t get some help right away, they might say, ‘There’s nobody out there to help me.’ What I’m working on is a database, a hotline that somebody can call and find out who is in their area who can help them.”
The South Haven-area Republican was a member of a special statewide mental health task force that will present its findings at a press briefing in Lansing next week.
