An alternative mental health court program designed to fast-track people with untreated schizophrenia into housing and medical care is starting in San Francisco and six other California counties
FILE - California Gov. Gavin Newsom answers a question concerning three gun control measures he signed during a news conference in Sacramento, Calif., Sept. 26, 2023. An alternative mental health court program designed to fast-track people with untreated schizophrenia into housing and medical care starts in San Francisco and six other California counties.
Family members and first responders are among those who can now file a petition on behalf of an adult they believe “is unlikely to survive safely” without supervision and whose condition is rapidly deteriorating. They also can file if an adult needs services and support to prevent relapse or deterioration that would likely result in “grave disability or serious harm” to themselves or others.. People with severe depression or bipolar disorder do not qualify.
If all parties cannot agree to a voluntary plan, the statute says the court will order they work on a plan. But the statute also allows the court to dismiss the proceedings if the individual declines to participate or to follow the agreement. Judge Begert, in San Francisco, said he cannot compel someone to engage; the best he can do is start building a relationship with the person.
Opponents of the program say the state should have invested in more housing and existing services rather than establishing a new court system. “For us, it is just really about making sure that our loved ones have the best life that they could possibly have,” she said. “Living on the streets and dying on the streets is not the way for anybody to live.”San Francisco, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Glenn counties launched the new program Monday. Los Angeles County will begin its program Dec. 1.
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