SACRAMENTO — The state Assembly passed a bill
Wednesday sought by San Francisco officials to expand conservatorship
rules so they can have more control over who can be involuntarily held
for mental-health treatment.
The bill now heads to the state Senate, which has already approved a similar version. If passed there, SB1045 by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, would head to Gov. Jerry Brown.
The bill would allow the
Boards of Supervisors in San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles
counties to create five-year pilot programs that expand conservatorship
rules.
“This pilot will provide for the least restrictive and most clinically
appropriate placement including supportive housing and wrap-around
services,” said Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, before the bill
passed the Assembly by a vote of 61-0.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman testified
in support of the bill at the state Capitol earlier this year, saying
the city needed more power to help chronically homeless people suffering
from both mental illness and substance abuse.
County mental health
professionals can now hospitalize people against their will for 72
hours, in what is known as a 5150 hold, if they pose a danger to
themselves or others or are gravely disabled because of mental illness. A
county can ask a judge for a 14-day extension to continue intensive
treatment and repeat that process every 30 days.
Supporters of SB1045 say the guidelines for a hold are too strict, resulting in severely mentally ill
people with drug and alcohol addiction returning to the streets. Wiener
said that even the bill’s expanded criteria would apply to only 1
percent of San Francisco’s homeless population.
“It’s beyond inhumane to
sit back and let these people die when we have the ability to help
them,” Wiener said in June. “Our current conservatorship laws are
inadequate.”
Full Article & Source:
Assembly OKs expanded conservatorship bill for mentally ill SF homeless
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