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View Winners → Laura’s Law Mental Health Program Extended to 2017
Arcadia Weekly Sep 27, 2012
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A public safety program which is saving lives and reducing incarceration and hospitalizations among the mentally ill, has been extended until 2017.
A pilot program initiated in Los Angeles County by Michael D. Antonovich and supported unanimously by the Board of Supervisors, has successfully stabilized and reintegrated participants back into the community with a 78% reduction in incarcerations and a 77% reduction in hospitalizations — significantly improving the lives of program participants and cutting taxpayer costs nearly 40%.
A compassionate approach to helping the mentally-ill, Laura’s Law reformed the Lanterman-Petris-Short Law, which prohibited judges, families, and physicians from compelling the severely mentally ill to accept treatment. “By removing the roadblocks to treatment, these individuals are guided away from hopelessness onto a path of recovery,” said Antonovich.
Signed by the Governor on September 22, 2012, AB1569 (Allen) extends the sunset date for Laura’s Law to January 1, 2017, and allows participating counties, as well as those who want to participate, to continue to provide assisted outpatient mental health treatment for persons with serious mental illnesses if they are likely to become a danger to themselves or others.
