A bill now being talked about by California state lawmakers could help take some of the mentally ill off the streets of Santa Monica.
The bill would allow courts to sentence people with severe mental illnesses who are constantly in and out of jails or hospitals to an intensive 180-day out-patient care program.
Patients would enter the program after leaving a mandated hospitalization period. However, patients would not be forced to take medication and they would not be held in contempt of court for not showing up for the program.
“It would be something that would help people who are severely mentally ill and are homeless,” said Nancy Westegaard, an aide to Assemblywoman Helen Thomson (D-Davis), who authored the bill.
“Many times they get back out on the street and don’t stay on their medications and there is no way to keep them in their treatment programs,” she said.
Currently the bill, known as AB 1421, is in front of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Westegaard said much of the text in the bill was drawn from similar legislation enacted in New York, known as Kendra’s Law.
After being in place for a few years, the New York law has drawn praise for reducing repetitive hospitalizations and incarcerations of the mentally ill and helping them stay on their medications, Westegaard said.
The latest change to the bill would allow each county the option of participating in such a program and the extent to which it could fund it.
But Thomson’s bill has drawn opposition from some of the largest statewide mental health care associations. They fear that making treatment for the mentally ill involuntary would infringe on their civil rights.
Locally, some elected officials have been closely following the proposed legislation, and there has been some talk of bringing it in front of the Santa Monica City Council for a possible endorsement.
Some believe the same effects achieved in New York could be accomplished in Santa Monica, where downtown streets are dotted with homeless people, some of whom are clearly mentally ill. They are seen mumbling to themselves, walking into traffic and digging through dumpsters.
Councilman Ken Genser agreed that there is a need for legislation to address the large numbers of mentally ill forced to live on the streets.
“As a community we need a bill like this and as a society we need a bill like this,” he said. “We see people who clearly need help and under the current situation, and unless they are presenting a clear and immediate threat to themselves or others, they can’t get that help.”
However, at least one elected leader said he is against mandating any medical treatment, and therefore would not support the proposed bill.
“On the surface it sounds like a good idea because the mentally ill need help, but you can’t forcibly control them and make them get it,” said Councilman Herb Katz. “In some ways these people need help, but we can’t make them prisoners while doing it.”
“In some ways these people need help, but we can’t make them prisoners while doing it.” — — HERB KATZ Santa Monica City councilman
Santa Monica Mayor Mike Feinstein said there should be more of a focus by government to prevent mentally ill people from slipping through the cracks and becoming homeless to begin with.
“I think part of the reason we have so many homeless is due to the lack of mental health care,” he said. “There’s no question about that.”
Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown said he is unsure whether the medical benefits outweigh the troubling civil rights questions.
“There’s no doubt that there are people this could help,” McKeown said. “But there is also no question there are people it could hurt too.”
Genser also agreed that any legislation that would make medical treatment involuntary must walk a narrow line.
“Balance civil liberties issues with the need to protect and help individuals as well as help the greater community,” Genser said. “It’s in that kind of a bill that it is critical to get that balance and those details right.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 3, 2002. Read the original PDF.