Advocates Seek Wider Implementation of State Mental Health Care Law

Mental health advocates in California are working to expand the implementation of a 2003 state law that aims to make it easier for judges to order patients with mental illness to take their medications, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Existing Laws

Under the 1967 Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, a judge must determine that a patient poses a danger to himself or others before ordering him to undergo involuntary psychiatric treatment. Most psychiatric stays are limited to 72 hours.

The 2003 Laura's Law aimed to make it easier for judges to order patients to take medication under supervised treatment.

Call for Wider Implementation

Carla Jacobs, a mental health advocate with the group Lanterman-Petris-Short Act Reform Roundtable, said the problem with Laura's Law is that it allows each county to decide whether to use it.

As of now, only Los Angeles and Nevada counties have implemented the law.

Critics

Some patients and community agency workers have criticized Laura's Law because they say it violates the civil rights of patients with mental illness and creates unnecessary costs.

Critics say a better solution would be for the state to create more mental health care services (Fagan, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/12).