(Nov. 14, 2014) Mendocino County supervisors voted unanimously to implement a Laura’s Law pilot program earlier this week, making it the fourth county to adopt Laura’s Law this year, reports the Press Democrat (“Mendocino County to implement Laura’s Law pilot program,” Nov. 12).
Laura’s Law will give Mendocino a critical lifeline for patients who refuse treatment and end up on the streets, a risk to themselves or others, in jail or worse.
The law is named after Laura Wilcox, a university student who was shot to death while she was volunteering in a mental health clinic by a man with untreated schizophrenia. The law was passed to provide a pathway to recovery for the individuals most at risk for violence, incarceration, homelessness and other ills because they struggle to stay in treatment.
Mendocino represents the latest in a wave of California counties to enact Laura’s Law this year. But more work remains. There are still 52 California counties – and many others around the country where individuals with mental illness, their families and their communities are not benefiting from their assisted outpatient treatment (AOT) laws. Here’s hoping they follow the rest of California and put AOT to work making treatment possible for more of their citizens who need help the most.
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