Exclusive: Gavin Newsom has a bold new mental health plan, inspired by the misery on S.F. streets.

[cinematicdiversions]

Exclusive: Gavin Newsom has a bold new mental health plan, inspired by the misery on S.F. streets. Will it work?

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/bayarea/heatherknight/article/Gavin-Newsom-Care-Court-mental-health-16973070.php

The misery experienced on San Francisco’s sidewalks has long offered a case study in the failure of California’s mental health care system. Now, the dire situation is inspiring a proposal for a sweeping overhaul.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan, to be unveiled Thursday, seeks to tackle two big flaws in the system: the shortage of desperately needed care and the strict limitations on compelling treatment for people who are too sick to understand they need help.

His proposal, called Care Court, would create a mental-health-focused arm of the civil courts in every county. For the first time, the state would require counties to provide comprehensive treatment to those suffering from debilitating psychosis — and risk sanctions if they don’t. The people in the program, in turn, would be obligated to accept the care.

Previous efforts to compel treatment have often run into opposition from mental-health advocates who worry about a return to institutionalization, and say governments should focus on expanding voluntary care. But the governor said there’s no more time to debate people’s civil rights as they endure degradation, and no more time to argue over how to fund the much-needed help.

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IMHO many homeless advocates do more harm than good. Many of those that are long term homeless would be better off in newly built institutions where they could get the help they need and allow the citizens of the city to enjoy the city without the threat of random violence and disturbance. I applaud the governor for this first step.

[Demovictory9]

1. Eccellent..ny needs to follow

.

[Karadeniz]

2. Hmmmmm...

[Auggie]

3. Details from the link (non-subscribers will encounter paywall):

Under (Newsom's) vision, people suffering from psychosis — whether from a mental illness such as schizophrenia or triggered by severe drug addiction — could be brought before a Superior Court judge under three scenarios: Either they are suspected of a crime, an involuntary hold in a psychiatric emergency room is ending, or a family member or outreach worker believes they cannot care for themselves. A public defender would represent them.

A county clinical team would create a care plan with input from the person and their “supporter,” a county case manager who would help them navigate the process and make decisions.

The plan would likely include clinical services such as visits with a psychiatrist, prescriptions for medications and housing such as at a board-and-care facility. The person wouldn’t need to be homeless to qualify. If a judge ordered the plan, the county would be mandated to provide what’s needed and the person would be required to accept it.

If the person suffering from psychosis refused at any point to participate, their criminal case would proceed. If no crime was committed, they could face the existing state process, in which people who are gravely disabled or deemed to be a danger to themselves or others are placed under involuntary holds and eventual conservatorship. Medication could be court-ordered, but would not be forcibly given.

This segment concludes with:

Failure to take mandated medications could mean the person reverts to the criminal court or eventual conservatorship. The idea is to help people long before either of those outcomes is necessary.

I don't see any mention of a jobs or vocational program, even volunteer work, to go along with treatment. Couldn't this be of help in some cases?

Agree with Newsome. It's time for bold action.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. We can do better than a criminal/carceral model.

[Caliman73]

5. Without MASSIVE investment in COMMUNITY CARE models, this will fail.

You can order people to do whatever the hell you want. If they have nowhere to go or nothing to strive for, they will end up back in court , over and over again until they end up in prison or out on the streets.

If they put the money into housing, jobs, and community building, and seriously work on public education programs destigmatizing mental health, then I would say that we may be on to something.


In the 1990's I actually worked within a model that tried to provide housing, counseling, vocational help, etc... It was not perfect, but it worked. BY the late 1990's funding was slashed and the model collapsed. The forces of NIMBY are very powerful, even in the progressive state of California.

Sorry if I am cynical, I have just seen the effects of Reagan's "de-institutionalization" the promise and crash of community models, and many other such missteps.

A lot of times it is just people yelling that they don't want to see homeless and mentally ill people around, not that they really care what happens to them.