Did Lack of Access to Mental Health Care Contribute to the Valle Tragedy?

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Lorna Valle is reportedly under psychiatric evaluation today, as authorities try to determine what may have led to the drowning and attempted drowning of her two children. Guatemalan Vice-Consul Ricardo Jiron visited Valle last night after she was arrested. He said she appeared "very sleepy", and that "We will try to prove that she was under the influence of a lot of medication."

The consulate will pay for Valle's legal representation, representation for her husband, and for transportation of the body of Valle's daughter to Guatemala for burial.

It remains unclear whether Valle sought help and was refused, or whether she hesitated to get the help she needed.

If you're undocumented in California, you have few options for medical care: you can go to an emergency room or to a neighborhood clinic, but most medical facilities are not required to serve undocumented immigrants.

Says Jorge-Mario Cabrera, Director of Communications for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), "It is inhumane, but it is legal."

Most undocumented immigrants seek health care from local clinics, many of which do not offer mental health services. Even if the clinics do have mental health services, the wait time can be lengthy. St. John's Well Child and Family Center provides mental health care to the undocumented at many of its clinics. But, said one of their intake counselors, first you have to get a physical examination and then you can be referred to one of their few mental health specialists. The wait-time for an appointment for the physical can be lengthy -- the list is currently full until sometime in April.

Then there's the shame factor. Cabrera said:

"Studies have shown that recent immigrants are less likely to go to medical facilities and receive services precisely because they do not want to be a burden to the society or the new country that has welcomed them...No hospital is supposed to deny services because of immigration status -- but we do hear cases of clients being harassed by medical personnel because they lack documents."

It won't be known until after Valle's psychiatric evaluation is completed exactly what the circumstances were that led to the tragic deaths of her children.