California bill could lead to more detainees for the mentally ill

More people in California could be detained against their will due to mental illness under a new bill backed Wednesday by mayors of some of the nation’s largest cities who say they are struggling to care for the country’s larger homeless population.

Federal data shows that nearly a third of the country’s homeless population lives in California, thronging the densely populated coastal cities of the nation’s most populous state. California lawmakers have given local governments billions of dollars in recent years to address the issue, but often with mixed results, recently drawing public criticism from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Local leaders say that in many cases their hands are tied because the people who need help most refuse to accept it. State law allows courts to order people to be treated, but only if they “pose a danger to themselves or others.” This new proposal will expand that definition to include people who, due to mental illness or addiction to illicit drugs, are unable to care for themselves or protect their safety.

“As a mayor, people often ask me: “Why don’t you do something about this man who is screaming at the top of his lungs on a street corner?” And I say, “Well, they don’t pose a threat to themselves or to others,” and that sounds hollow,” said Todd Gloria, Democrat mayor of San Diego, the nation’s eighth-largest city of almost 1.4 million. Human. “Our current rules set the bar so high that we can’t help this person.”

Legislators have tried for years to expand the definition of a severe disability, including a proposal last year that was passed by the Senate but never passed by the State Assembly.

Deb Roth, senior legislative attorney for the disability rights group in California, said her organization opposes the bill because it would expand the law “in a highly speculative way and result in more people being imprisoned against their will and deprived of their basic rights.” rights, including privacy and freedom.”

“The answer must be to invest in more voluntary, culturally sensitive mental health services and support to help people get on the road to recovery while maintaining their dignity and civil rights,” she said.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco, said most homeless people have no mental health or addiction problems, but a small percentage of people living on the streets are so severely malnourished that they are unable to make decisions on their own.

“We can’t just put them in the house and expect them to succeed,” he said. “Despite what some advocates say, it’s not progressive to just sit back and let people degrade, fall apart and eventually die on our streets.”

The bill is the latest attempt to update California’s 56-year-old mental health law, an arrangement whereby a court appoints someone to make legal decisions for another person, including whether medical treatment and medication should be taken.

The matter recently gained attention in the case of pop star Britney Spears, who was under questionable custody by her father and lawyer before it was dissolved in 2021. that legislators are trying to change.

Lawyers point to the case of Mark Rippey, a Vacaville resident who lived on the streets for years while his family begged him for help. He died in November.

“We don’t want to take anyone to the hospital who doesn’t need hospitalization. But when that time comes and we can’t protect them, it’s devastating,” said Emily Wood, chairman of the government affairs committee of the California Psychiatric Association.

Newsom signed legislation last year that created a new lawsuit whereby family members and others could ask a judge to develop a treatment plan for certain people with certain diagnoses, including schizophrenia. This law would allow a judge to force people into treatment for up to a year. This new bill will go further as it will apply to more people – with a special focus on people who are in immediate danger.

“Our hope is that this will only apply to a smaller portion of the population that is struggling with mental health issues,” Eggman said.

Lawyers said Wednesday they believe they have enough support to pass the bill this year, citing new leadership from some key legislative committees in the state assembly.

Assembly Republican leader James Gallagher spoke at a press conference on Wednesday in a rare display of bipartisanship:

“We have this cycle of devastation, human devastation on the streets, people who we all know need help and literally can’t get it because of the law in place. This needs to be changed.”