Public Education & Policy :: Archive

CNMHC News Alert, May 15, 2002

AB 1421 (Thomson, Davis) Threatens Again
Hearing Date is June 12

The Hearing date for AB 1421 will be June 12 at the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, Room 4202. The Committee begins at 1:30 PM. (As with all hearing dates, this is subject to change.)

The proponents of AB 1421 are waging a vigorous public relations campaign, exploiting the stereotype of the violent mental patient and increasing the public's fear of people with mental disabilities. This strategy was outlined several years ago by D J Jaffe, the chief publicist for expanding forced treatment laws throughout the country, in a speech at the 1999 NAMI national conference. In Jaffe's words, "Laws change for a single reason, in reaction to highly publicized incidents of violence. People care about public safety. ---Now once you understand that, it means that you have to take the debate out of the mental health arena and put it in the criminal justice/public safety arena." The San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times have added their voices in editorials laced with sensationalism and are actively campaigning for the passage of this bill. Our rights are under siege (theme of the upcoming fall National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy (NARPA) Conference.)

AB 1421 create a new kind of involuntary commitment system. The involuntary outpatient commitment program that it proposes greatly expands the criteria of who can be committed, the persons who can initiate commitment proceedings, while reducing the protective layers required for outpatient commitments.

Specifics of the bill include the following:

Proposes commitment criteria that is vague and subjective, such as "substantially deteriorating", and "at high risk of poor outcome." The criteria is extremely inclusive. In fact, a key component for commitment is simply failure to engage in treatment. A major shift toward civil rights in the last thirty years has been to base commitment on clear behavioral standards. AB 1421 reverses this protection and bases commitment on the perceived need for treatment. While the author has said that she is trying to target only a small group of the most difficult to serve folks, this bill greatly expands the net of commitment to anyone in any place.

Permits family and many friends to file petitions for an order authorizing involuntary outpatient commitment: roommates, parents, spouse, siblings or children 18 years or older. Friends and loved ones become police persons. The potential for abuse of the power to initiate a commitment, such as in a custody or divorce proceedings, or for fiduciary gain, is endless. Current commitment law was developed to eliminate this kind of abuse of power.

In some cases, allows for a hearing without the person who is the subject of the hearing - targeting homeless people who are hard to find and for whom transportation is a problem. In some cases, allows a hearing to proceed without an examination of the subject of the hearing (if the person has refused to be examined or can't be found.) In this case, an angry roommate, a jealous sibling, or a domineering spouse, can essentially alone initiate a commitment hearing.

Noncompliance of the court order or the negotiated settlement as well as refusal to be examined can initiate a 72-hour hold, adding a new emergency commitment (5150) criteria for this group of people.

There is no investigative layer between the filing of a petition for outpatient commitment and the court hearing. In New York State that has an outpatient commitment law, approximately 50% of all of the petitions filed were dropped upon investigation. Under AB 1421, the subject of a petition would at a minimum have to suffer an evaluation by a professional or a hospital stay for evaluation or a court hearing, whether the petition had merit or not.

Has a "voluntary negotiated settlement". However, the "settlement" entails entering into the same program that court ordered people enter; and noncompliance can initiate a 72-hour hold in a hospital as well as a probable cause hearing that could lead to further incarceration. The only difference in a "voluntary negotiated settlement" and a court ordered involuntary outpatient commitment is no hearing.

AB 1421 has recently been amended so that it is not contingent on a grant and is optional for counties to adopt. Those research studies on outpatient commitment that suggest favorable outcomes indicate that the commitment must be combined with intensive mental health services. AB 1421 as amended adds only expanded commitment without additional services. Moreover, it raises constitutional issues of equal protection under the law in that counties will have different commitment laws.

WRITE LETTERS TO THE SENATE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE. PLAN TO COME TO THE CAPITOL FOR THE HEARING ON JUNE 12.

Other News

Senate Votes Aye on SB 1448 (Chesbro, Arcata)

SB 1448 easily passed out of the Senate this week in a floor vote.
The bill will now go to the Assembly, and be assigned to the Health Committee.

The intent of SB 1448 is to support persons with disabilities in their efforts to restore dignity to persons whose remains are buried in gravesites on state hospital and developmental center lands, and other places, through conducting inventories, developing restoration plans for gravesites and cemeteries, and creating protocols for the future internment of patients.

SB 1448 is a product of the California Memorial Project's efforts, a collaboration of the CNMHC, Peer and Self Advocacy Unit of PAI, and People First groups.

Governor Slashes Mental Health Budget
The Village and AB 34 Programs Targeted

Facing a state budget deficit of 23 billion, the Governor has cut the AB 34 Programs and the Adult System of Care funding under AB 3777 pilot programs in Los Angeles, Stanislaus and Ventura Counties. (This includes the Village in Long Beach.) Out of the current budget of 72 million for the two programs, the Governor's budget proposes a cut of 17 million, 24%

These programs are voluntary, holistic services that save lives and dollars. They have paved the road that California must travel in developing a mental health system that is client-friendly and based on recovery.

The Governor's budget is the beginning of a process of negotiations between the legislature and the Governor.

Let your voice be part of the negotiations. Write or fax your local legislator. Or contact the following legislative leaders.

Senate President Pro Tem John Burton
Senate Minority Leader Jim Brulte
Senate Budget Committee Chair Steve Peace

Assembly Speaker Herb Wessen
Assembly Minority Leader Dave Cox
Assembly Budget Chair Jenny Oropeza