CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Mental health advocates rally in support of Lavite

Telegraph - 9/17/2016

Sept. 17--WOOD RIVER -- At least two dozen mental health advocates braved a thunderstorm Friday morning to gather for a prayer rally in support of Bradley Lavite, a veteran who was banned from his Madison County office after suffering a manic episode and kicking out the windows of a squad car.

Lavite, superintendent of the county Veterans Assistance Commission, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. County officials banned him from county property after the March 2015 altercation in a Wood River squad car, citing concerns about safety and liability.

But attendees of the rally at the county building in Wood River said there are other issues at hand -- availability of mental health services, stigma surrounding post-traumatic stress disorder and discrimination against those who suffer from mental illness.

A.J. French, a local mental health advocate who organized the event, said Lavite was not able to attend the rally because it was held on county property.

"He fought for this soil that we're standing on, and he can't be here," French said. "There's no integrity in it, and it does not bode well for the rest of us with psychiatric disabilities."

Bethalto United Methodist Pastor Bill Pyatt serves in a Rotary Club with Lavite, and says it's unfair the county has barred Lavite from his office despite receiving clearance from a psychiatrist shortly after the incident last year.

"It's an injustice that Bradley has not been able to return to his office even though he has been cleared," Pyatt said. "I think there's a stigma that you can't recover from trauma. Bradley exemplifies recovery and a return to productive life (after military service). He is still fully capable of doing his job."

Lavite continues his duties as commission superintendent from locations off county property.

Peter Dodge, a U.S. Army veteran and project leader with the Southwestern Illinois National Alliance on Mental Illness, said Lavite's work is essential to reaching out to and providing support for local veterans and their families.

"The power of recovery is shaped between veterans who reach out to and trust other veterans," Dodge said. "Because they understand my world view, I'm willing to share with them."

But there are "very few resources" for individuals suffering from mental illness, Dodge said, a sentiment shared by Fred Friedman, founder of Next Steps, a Chicago-based mental health advocacy group.

"The mental health system is fundamentally flawed. People think people with mental illness are a minority. We are a majority," Friedman said. "I hope there's one thing we can all agree on -- people with mental illness should not be stigmatized. Worse is discrimination."

Michael Madison, a Republican county board member from Bethalto, said Lavite's rights were violated because he received no "due process" in being banned from county property.

"If this is the way we treat someone who served two terms of battle, we should be ashamed of ourselves," Madison said.

In a statement released in August, County Administrator Joseph Parente said the county has an obligation to keep Lavite off county property.

"We (county officials) cannot ignore the severity of Mr. Lavite's incident with the police or the potential threats to our employees and the public," Parente said in the statement. "By ignoring this situation and merely looking the other way, we would not be fulfilling our obligation to county employees and visitors to the Administration Building and Courthouse."

Reach Kelsey Landis at 618-208-6460 x 1396 or on Twitter @kelseylandis.

___

(c)2016 The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.)

Visit The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.) at www.thetelegraph.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.