Petition To: San Diego County Supervisors Greg Cox, Bill From: The Undersigned Citizens of San Diego County We, the undersigned citizens of San Diego County, hereby Laura’s Law (AB 1421) was passed by the California We believe that Laura’s Law can be implemented in our county We urge you, our supervisors, to help prevent so much needless
Horn, Diane Jacob, Ron Roberts, Pam Slater-Price
petition you, the supervisors of San Diego County, to pass a resolution
implementing Laura’s Law in our county.
legislature in 2002 and patterned after Kendra’s Law of New York. However, its implementation is not mandatory
and can only be adopted by a resolution of each county’s board of supervisors. Kendra’s Law or similar legislation has been successfully
adopted by several other states and counties throughout the US. Laura’s Law is assisted outpatient treatment,
sustained and mandated for those in the community most overcome by the symptoms
of severe mental illness, and for those for whom current voluntary services
have not worked. By providing assisted
outpatient treatment, Laura’s Law will create an effective tool for people with
severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia to get help before they
become a danger to themselves or others. It will help stop the violence
committed upon them or by them. It will
stop the revolving door that spins too many people in and out of hospital emergency
rooms, jails, and living on the streets of our county. It will save our
county and the US taxpayers from continuing to shoulder the costs of these
least effective options. It will protect the rights and the safety of our
citizens, especially the 40-50% of those with serious mental illnesses who have
no insight into their own illness and refuse the very treatment that could help
them. Individual rights are fully
protected under this law as the treatment recipient must meet comprehensive
criteria before mandated treatment can be ordered.
without diminishing funds for existing mental health programs. The San Diego Mental Health Court Calendar
and Assertive Community Treatment are two programs funded by the Mental Health
Services Act and now in place to support implementation.
suffering of innocent people by enabling these seriously mentally ill citizens
to receive the beneficial treatment they need.
Laura’s Law will bring real treatment to people who need it most.