zlacker

It all started to change with O'Connor v. Donaldson. Prior to that, a person could be committed for basically life for just about anything...

Reference: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

>>Furiou+(OP)
I think outrage from that movie and the conditions of the Asylums around that time period was why many of the public asylums were shuttered.

>>vondur+W4
During the late 19th to early 20th century, asylums were launched all over the US. They were commonly public-private partnerships but tended to be spearheaded by altruistic individuals. They were genuinely positive places and were constantly lauded by the public/press/pols.

The focus on humane care was universal. The methods sometimes suffered from incomplete understanding but that improved over time.

From 1930s to 1960s, the responsible individuals died off and no one replaced them. The p/p/p quit caring. Locations transitioned to gov-only. The public/press weren't interested so neither were pols. The quality of care steeply fell off as budgets (read 'efficiency') were prioritized over everything.

By the 1970s, asylums were associated with hellholes for mostly good reasons. By the 1980s most were shuttered. The public justification was the inhumane conditions (typically true). The motivating reason was to recapture the remaining funds that were spent on them. There was little/no interest in funding replacements.

FF to today. Florida has 5 state criminal mental health institutions. Their long history is that patients and staff die there with some regularity. After that came out in a news series, reporters lost access and that's where that's at.

    source: 10y genealogy research & 25y caring for mi spouse. 
    Also: 10y supporting developmentally disabled care facilities (public/private) that are still spearheaded by caring, invested individuals. They are models of what is possible.