An alternative mental health court program designed to fast-track people with untreated schizophrenia into housing and medical care is starting in San Francisco and six other California counties.
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A special civil court in each county will review each petition with the county behavioral health agency evaluating eligibility. The individual will be appointed a lawyer and a support person of their choice. Civil rights advocates have raised fears that the new process will result in vulnerable people being forced into treatment.
Veronica Kelley, Orange County behavioral health director, said the county’s judges understand building rapport with eligible candidates takes time and have agreed to grant her team extra time to reach voluntary agreements, despite the statute’s deadlines.The state has allocated money for emergency shelters but critics say there is a constant shortage of case managers, appropriate in-patient treatment facilities and supportive housing.
“The issue is not that these resources are available and people aren’t using them,” said Samuel Jain, senior policy attorney at Disability Rights California. “It’s that these voluntary community-based services are under-resourced and not accessible.”The National Alliance on Mental Illness in California, a grassroots organization supporting people with a mental illness and their families, pushed for the new mental health program.
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