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Regular-Health & Human Services # 30.
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| Board of Supervisors |
Alcohol, Drug & Mental Health |
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| Subject |
| Receive and file presentation on Laura’s Law/AB 1421. (No general fund impact) (Suderman) |
| Recommended Action |
| Receive and file presentation on Laura’s Law/AB 1421 |
| Strategic Plan Goal(s) |
| Preserve and ensure safe and crime free communities |
| Reason for Recommended Action/Background |
Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health is presenting this item to the Board of Supervisor’s, as requested.
Laura's Law, patterned after New York's Kendra's Law, is named after a 19-year-old woman working at a Nevada County mental health clinic. She was one of 3 who died after a shooting by a delusional patient who had resisted treatment. Laura's Law/AB 1421, authored by Assembly Woman Helen Thomson, was signed into California law in 2002 and became effective January 1, 2003. The interest in Laura’s Law has increased, most recently due to the Colorado and Connecticut incidents.
AB 1421 allows court-ordered, intensive outpatient treatment called Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), for a small population of individuals who have multiple psychiatric hospital and jail stays, and challenges with homelessness. These individuals are often too mentally ill to and have difficulty understanding the value of engaging in treatment.
AOT is designed to provide service intervention before an individual decompensates to such a level that it triggers an involuntary hospitalization or arrest, providing an alternative to hospitalization and incarceration, providing continuity of care for some of the most difficult-to-treat people, who traditionally decline treatment. Nevada County is currently the only county that has fully implemented Laura’s Law. Los Angeles County has a small pilot program; San Diego County has a Laura’s Law alternative; and Orange County and several others are providing alternative services designed to prevent involuntary interventions.
AB 1421 allows a person that is authorized to obtain assisted outpatient treatment pursuant to an order if requisite criteria are met, as specified. Under this law, participating counties are required to provide prescribed assisted outpatient services, including a service planning and delivery process that are client-directed and employ psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery principles.
A lack of funding and the ongoing controversy over forcing the mentally ill into treatment has led most counties to decide against enacting it. Some object to forced treatment if no crime has been committed. Others say the prospect could deter the mentally ill from seeking treatment voluntarily for fear they could wind up under court-ordered supervision.
There are currently four (4) pending bills addressing Laura’s Law:
• SB 664 as introduced would no longer require a county to authorize assisted outpatient treatment services (AOT) by BOS resolution. This bill would also authorize a county to limit the number of persons to whom it provides AOT. Existing law contains provisions governing the operation and financing of community mental health services for the mentally disordered in every county through locally administered and locally controlled community mental health programs. Additionally, Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funding cannot be used to pay for involuntary treatment. This bill would provide a clarification that mental health services provided under Laura’s Law may be provided pursuant to the procedures established by the Mental Health Services Act.
• SB 585 and AB 1367 would clarify that services provided under Laura's Law may be provided pursuant to the procedures specified in the Mental Health Services Act. Because the bill would clarify the procedures and terms of Proposition 63, it would require a majority vote of the Legislature.
• AB 1265 allows individuals under Laura's Law to receive treatment for up to one year (instead of the six month max previously allowed). It would also require facilities discharging involuntarily committed patients first evaluate them to determine if they could benefit from Laura's Law. |
| Other Agency Involvement |
| County Counsel |
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