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(June 18, 2014) San Francisco must move forward and adopt Laura’s Law to allow court-ordered outpatient treatment for people with serious mental illness, Fred Martin writes in the San Francisco Chronicle (“Mentally ill individuals need care and treatment not jail,” June 17).

“Adopting Laura's Law is about public safety. It is about whether we offer treatment for those with serious mental illness or abandon them to the streets or jail,” Martin says. “It is a means to help individuals avoid being forcibly hospitalized or jailed. It may help someone with severe psychosis avoid a violent confrontation."

As the chairman of the Committee on Mental Illness of the Episcopal Diocese of California, which works closely with homeless and incarcerated populations, Martin witnesses firsthand how America’s mental health system struggles to help the most severely ill among us.

With a shortage of public psychiatric beds and community-based treatment available only to those who seek it voluntarily, the consequences of untreated severe mental illness are apparent on the streets of San Francisco.

Bringing the law to the city will save taxpayers money. Laura’s Law can vastly reduce overall costs of tax-supported services associated with severe mental illness by reducing expensive hospitalizations, arrests and incarcerations. Nevada County, which implemented Laura’s Law in 2008, estimates it saves $1.81 for every $1 invested.

Last month, Orange County voted to bring this lifeline to treatment to its most vulnerable citizens and their families.

Next Monday morning, residents of San Francisco will have the opportunity to publicly voice their support for Laura’s Law to the Rules Committee in Room 263 at the San Francisco City Hall.

It’s time to bring Laura’s Law to San Francisco.

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