Assisted Outpatient Treatment Can’t Wait: It’s Time to Make Laura’s Law Work in California

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Randall Hagar
Co-coordinator
The California Treatment Advocacy Coalition
It’s been seven years since 19-year-old Laura Wilcox was shot to death at a Nevada County mental health clinic by Scott Harlan Thorpe, a man with paranoid schizophrenia who consistently refused treatment. It’s been five years since California passed Laura’s Law in her name, allowing counties to provide court-ordered community mental health treatment, otherwise known as assisted outpatient treatment (AOT), to people with severe mental illnesses who would otherwise be lost to the symptoms of their illnesses.

Back when Laura’s Law was passed it was considered landmark mental health legislation by California standards. New York had enacted a similar law four years before and was experiencing remarkable results and 40 other states had already adopted assisted outpatient treatments laws.

Fast forward five years later and, unfortunately, very little has changed since Laura’s Law was enacted to help people with the most severe mental illnesses secure the life-saving treatments they need. That’s because Laura’s Law passed with two major stipulations that have prevented local governments from applying the law. For one, the statute was adopted without a mandate that requires counties to implement Laura's Law. In addition, the State did not fund Laura’s Law and thus most counties justified not implementing the law due to budget constraints.

Thanks to a new source of mental health funding from Proposition 63 and new legislation recently introduced by Senator Leland Yee counties will find it easier to implement. When voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 63 in 2004, California established a one percent tax on personal income above $1 million to fund expanded health services for mentally ill children, adults, and seniors. Proposition 63 now provides a stream of funding for the intensive services that can be used pursuant to Laura’s Law to help those for whom voluntary treatment has proven ineffective. Many local governments are now beginning to consider adopting assisted outpatient treatment in their communities. In fact, Nevada County is currently using Proposition 63 funds to implement Laura’s law beginning in April.

In addition, SB 1606 was recently introduced by Senator Yee that would remove a number of unnecessary and cumbersome requirements contained in Laura’s Law and will allow counties to maximize their local dollars while giving appropriate services to the individuals who need assisted outpatient treatment. The bill will give counties more flexibility to use existing county mental health services, rather than establish a brand new program, to provide Laura's Law recipients’ treatment.