(July 30, 2015) The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted to implement Laura’s Law countywide this week, making it the latest California county to embrace assisted outpatient treatment as a tool for providing treatment to people with severe mental illness who are too ill to seek help for themselves ("County to mandate treatment for those with serious mental illness," Bakersfield Californian, July 28).
“Passing Laura’s Law helps provide better services to everyone in their community. It saves money, it saves lives and it helps people get well,” said Carla Jacobs, a member of the Treatment Advocacy Center Board of Directors. “It’s time every county implement this vital program.”
Others echoed support for the passage of Laura’s Law in Kern County.
“It is critically important that we manage the health care of [people with severe mental illness] as best we can,” said Kern County Supervisor Mick Gleason, whose family member with mental illness refuses treatment.
“Laura’s Law will keep people with severe mental illness out of the hospital,” said Brad Cloud, the deputy director of Kern’s mental health department.
Members of law enforcement also applauded the decision.
People who suffer with a severe mental illness get trapped in an unending loop of trouble when they refuse treatment, said Sheriff Donny Youngblood in support of the decision to implement Laura’s Law.
“Across this country our largest mental health facilities are our jails,” Youngblood said. “We have to change that. Jails are not the right people to treat people with mental illness.”
California was unique in the United States when it included in Laura’s Law a requirement that each county opt in with a vote by its Board of Supervisors. With this vote 11 California counties have fully implemented the law, but families in the state’s other 47 counties are still without access to this proven method of supporting recovery from the most severe mental illness and saving taxpayer dollars.
Nevada County, which implemented Laura’s Law in 2008, estimates it saves $1.81 for every $1 invested. A recent study in New York, where every county has implemented its version of Laura’s Law, found that mental health services could be expanded beyond AOT participants with the savings from these high utilizers of public systems staying in treatment.
Read more about assisted outpatient treatment in California.
To comment, visit our Facebook page.
Visit our blog archive to read all our recent posts.