LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentucky lawmakers removed funding to keep mentally ill people out of jail.
The assisted outpatient treatment program helped save the life of one Louisville woman.
It's called Assisted Outpatient Treatment -- or AOT. It provides wraparound care for people bouncing from the streets to the hospital and jail due to mental illness. That vicious cycle is a problem WDRB News has reported on extensively.
And advocates say it could get worse unless the state changes course.
Dawne Ellis was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 16 and it took over her life. Ellis said she has been in and out of jail for the past 20 years. She admitted that without treatment, she would most likely be dead or in prison.
"It has definitely saved my life," Ellis said.
A year ago, Ellis never dreamed she would be standing in the middle of a banquet Ellis, sober and clear headed.
"I impersonated a cop in 2014, when I don't take my medicine I tend to want to smoke weed," Ellis said.
When she takes her medicine, life is fine, but she didn't always follow the instructions. She self-medicated.
"A few times in my life I have decided 'oh I don't need that, I'm okay' but every time I have decided to do that I have come off of it and have ended up in the hospital or in jail," Ellis said.
She said her mental health issues have followed her like a dark shadow. Ellis crashed both of her parents' cars, faced dozens of traffic violations and minor criminal charges.
Ellis was put into treatment programs, jail and spent three months in the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Hospital.
A year ago, Ellis entered Judge Stephanie Burke's courtroom.
Burke said there are hundreds of people like Ellis, and treating them is in jeopardy as lawmakers removed mental health treatment funding like assisted outpatient treatment from the state's budget.
"We need to stop the senseless overincarceration of the mentally ill in our community," Burke said. "Unfortunately the lack of other options for these individuals, they often end up in jail."
Ellis attended the Spirit of Peace Awards dinner hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Health on Monday.
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