Last month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a new mental health policy that lowers the threshold for involuntary commitments for psychiatric care. While the Adams administration argues this shift is a solution for growing crime and homelessness numbers, critics argue it’s a step in the wrong direction. What’s the history behind involuntary holds, and what does it say about mental health policy in America?

References:
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline 
SAMHSA 
Introducing the "Designed to Fail" series | Mental Health America 
America's Long-Suffering Mental Health System 

Hosts:
Jonquilyn Hill (@jonquilynhill)

Credits:
Sofi LaLonde, producer 
Cristian Ayala, engineer
Libby Nelson, editorial adviser
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

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Our mental health doom loop

Politics is how people achieve power. Policy is what they do with it. Every week on The Weeds, host Jonquilyn Hill and guests break down the policies that shape our lives, from abortion to financial regulations to affirmative action to housing. We dive deep and we get wonky, but we have fun along the way. New episodes drop every Wednesday.
Produced by Vox and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

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News Commentary

America is in the midst of a homelessness crisis. With little affordable housing and limited space at shelters, many people are instead sleeping outside. But as tent encampments become more common, particularly on the West Coast where the housing crisis is most acute, the pressure on local governments to address the problem has skyrocketed. Now, the Supreme Court has decided to weigh in. The issue at the center of it is whether cities can fine or jail unhoused people for sleeping outside. Vox senior policy reporter Rachel Cohen (X, Instagram) explains the case and the stakes. 

Read More:
Cities are asking the Supreme Court for more power to clear homeless encampments
The Supreme Court will decide what cities can do about tent encampments
Supreme Court Amicus Brief No. 23-175 
  

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Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

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Is homelessness a crime?

Since the Dobbs decision almost two years ago, reproductive rights have been at the center of our national consciousness. Two of the latest headlines come from Florida and Arizona: a six-week abortion ban, and a total abortion ban unless the life of the pregnant person is threatened, respectively. Both states have constitutions that name-check privacy rights, but both courts found that those rights don’t extend to abortion. What does privacy look like in the United States, and do we still have it in a post-Dobbs world? 

Read more:
Do Americans still have a right to privacy? 

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Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Patrick Boyd, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

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Abortion and the erosion of privacy

Earlier this year, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled frozen embryos have the same rights as children. The decision sent shockwaves throughout Alabama and raised serious questions about the future of IVF in the United States. While the Alabama legislature has since passed legislation protecting IVF in the state, that doesn’t address the big question behind the court’s decision: What does personhood mean, and what does it mean for the anti-abortion movement?  

Read More:
Fetal personhood laws, explained - Vox 
Alabama’s Supreme Court IVF ruling is a warning to the country - Vox 
Opinion | The Anti-Abortion Movement Is Gunning for Fetal Personhood - The New York Times 
How America’s Two Abortion Realities Are Clashing - The New York Times 

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Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

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What is “fetal personhood”?

What if you weren’t allowed to have more than $2,000 at any given time? Could you make it work? For people who receive Supplemental Security Income, this isn’t a what-if — it’s reality. SSI beneficiaries are subject to strict requirements and risk losing their benefits if they have more than $2,000 in financial assets, even if they exceed that by just a dollar. Why is the limit so low, and is anything being done to fix it? That’s today on The Weeds.

Read More:
Tyler (@tylerlimaroope) | TikTok
The Case for Updating SSI Asset Limits | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
  

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Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Cristian Ayala, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a donation to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts
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A safety net’s poverty trap

America is in the midst of a child care crisis. The cost of child care has skyrocketed to the point where, in some states, caring for kids in pre-k is more expensive than college tuition or a home mortgage. According to economist Kathryn Anne Edwards, it’s a market failure. So how do we fix it? That’s in today’s installment of our series exploring economic fanfiction and the stories we should be covering this election year.

Read More:
Kathryn's plan to fix child care 

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Credits:
Jonquilyn Hill, host
Sofi LaLonde, producer
Rob Byers, engineer
A.M. Hall, editorial director of talk podcasts

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Our mental health doom loop

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