A homeless individual was about to be released from Kaiser Hospital’s emergency room in Manteca two weeks ago.
Medical professionals in the ER determined the person was in need of additional help to treat severe mental illness but refused to access it.
With no legal standing, medical professionals reached out to the City of Manteca’s emergency homeless shelter.
The shelter, however is not equipped to handle such care.
Worse yet, there is no way currently in the county to get mental health services to those residents in need who refuse voluntary treatment.
It is why elected Manteca leaders asked municipal staff to prepare a letter to the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors asking them to consider opting in to “Laura’s Law” on or before June 30 of this year.
The letter is before the council for consideration when they meet at 6 p.m. tonight at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Center St.
The council believes the county’s mental health endeavor dubbed “InSpire” is not muscular enough to address severe mental health threats given if someone doesn’t voluntarily commit to it they can not be required to access services.
Laura’s Law is the name given the state law that allows counties — although not cities — to opt into Assisted Outpatient Treatment to help deal with individuals with severe mental illness that do not voluntarily wish to get help.
AOT was initiated in California following the 2001 killing of Laura Wilcox in Nevada County by an individual suffering from severe mental illness.
The individual was engaged in treatment services and regularly visited a mental health clinic; the individual was not, however, engaged to the degree necessary to prevent decompensation or the stabilization of symptoms.
As it now stands, AOT is a system of laws found in California’s Welfare and Institutions Code to provide compelled mental health treatment without having to place individuals in conservatorship. In practice, AOT is a collaboration between several county agencies, the courts, members of the public, and/or non-profits who take an interest in the assistance of individuals most at risk for the negative consequences of not receiving treatment.
In contrast to current San Joaquin County programs, AOT is a sustained and intensive court-ordered outpatient treatment for individuals with mental illness who may be at risk of grave disability, deterioration in life skills and functioning, self-harm, and/or violence towards others.
AOT is not an alternative to voluntary treatment; instead, it is a way to get services to those County residents in need who refuse voluntary treatment.
Under Laura’s Law, individuals who meet specific criteria will have a petition filed with the court, recommending that the individual be ordered to participate in mental health services.
The individual is represented in court by a public defender; the County is represented by an attorney from the County Counsel’s Office,. AOT services must include, but are not limited to, the following:
*Community-based, mobile, multidisciplinary, highly trained mental health teams that use high staff-to-client ratios of no more than 10 to 1.
*A service planning and delivery process that includes plan and design of mental health services, including provision for services for physically-disabled individuals, older adults, and consultation with family members.
*Each client shall have a clearly designated mental health personal services coordinator.
*Individual services plans shall ensure that persons receive age-appropriate, gender appropriate, and culturally appropriate services.
*The individual personal services plan must describe the service array.
So far, 31 of the state’s 58 counties have opted in to AOT including Stanislaus, Alameda, and Sacramento.
Manteca leaders made a similar request four years ago. The county though, wanted more time to weigh the AOT approach while indicating they were confident the county’s existing approach would be effective enough.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
