BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1569|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1569
Author: Allen (D), et al.
Amended: 7/3/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/13/12
AYES: Hernandez, Harman, Alquist, Anderson, DeSaulnier,
Rubio, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, De León
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/26/12
AYES: Evans, Harman, Corbett, Leno
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 68-4, 5/3/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Community mental health services: assisted
outpatient
treatment
SOURCE : California Psychiatric Association
DIGEST : This bill extends the sunset on Lauras Law to
January 1, 2017, and requires the Department of Health Care
Services to submit a report and evaluation, including data
as specified, of all counties implementing any component of
Laura's Law to the Governor and to the Legislature by July
1, 2015.
CONTINUED
AB 1569
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ANALYSIS : Existing law, until January 1, 2013, the
Assisted Outpatient Treatment Demonstration Project Act of
2002 (Act), otherwise known as Laura's Law, permits
counties to provide court-ordered outpatient treatment
services for people with serious mental illnesses when a
court finds that a person's recent history of
hospitalizations or violent behavior, coupled with
noncompliance with voluntary treatment, indicate the person
is likely to become dangerous or gravely disabled without
the court-ordered outpatient treatment.
This bill:
1. Extends the sunset on Laura's Law to January 1, 2017.
2. Requires the Department of Health Care Services to
submit a report and evaluation, including data as
specified, of all counties implementing any component of
Laura's Law to the Governor and to the Legislature by
July 1, 2015.
Background
In 2002, the Assisted Outpatient Treatment Demonstration
Project Act (Act) of 2002 (AB 1421 (Thomson), Chapter 1017,
Statutes of 2002) was established to supplement the
Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS), which provides for the
involuntary treatment of people with mental health
disorders who are a danger to themselves or others. The
Act was also named "Laura's Law" in memory of Laura Wilcox,
a 19-year old college student who was gunned down by a man
suffering from serious delusional paranoia. Laura's Law
permits local counties to provide court-ordered outpatient
mental health services to individuals with serious mental
illnesses. Laura's Law initially contained a sunset of
January 1, 2008 and was subsequently amended to extend the
sunset date to January 1, 2013 (AB 2357 (Karnette), Chapter
774, Statutes of 2006).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/8/12)
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California Psychiatric Association (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
California Association of Psychiatric Technicians
California Hospital Association
California Medical Association
California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association
California State Sheriffs' Association
California Treatment Advocacy Coalition
Friends Committee on Legislation in California
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Mental Illness Policy Org.
National Alliance on Mental Illness California
National Alliance on Mental Illness, Mendocino County -
Coast
National Alliance on Mental Illness, Orange County National
Alliance on Mental Illness, Westside-Los Angeles
Nevada County Suicide Prevention Taskforce
Treatment Advocacy Center
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/8/12)
American Civil Liberties Union of California
Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
California Association of Mental Health Patients' Rights
Advocates
California Association of Mental Health Peer Run
Organizations
California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies
California Client Action Workgroup
California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies
California Mental Health Planning Council
California Network of Mental Health Clients
California Right to Life Committee, Inc.
Disability Rights California
Mental Health America of California
Mental Health Association of San Francisco
MindFreedom International
National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy
United States Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association
Voices of the Heart, Inc., Queensbury, NY
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ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office states, that
voluntary treatment is not 100 percent effective. Further,
"Ýe]ven with the best voluntary mental health treatment
services, some people are too mentally ill to recognize
that they have an illness but not so gravely ill that they
meet the criteria for conservatorship. Simply put, this
bill is needed to provide tools to address this population
that falls in the middle Ýof] voluntary treatment and
gravely disabled."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Many mental health patient
advocacy groups and civil rights organizations oppose the
concept of "assisted outpatient treatment" for several
reasons: (1) they object to any involuntary treatment of
mental health patients as a violation of due process
rights; (2) they assert that lesser standards for
outpatient care are unwarranted, as conservatorships are
available under existing law; (3) they dispute the author's
contention that a core group of mentally ill are too
resistant to accept voluntary treatment, arguing that the
real problem is lack of sufficient voluntary outpatient
services; (4) they are concerned that counties wishing to
implement AOT programs may take funds from existing
voluntary outpatient programs for that purpose; and (5)
they argue that only voluntary treatment is effective.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 68-4, 5/3/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley,
Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos, Carter,
Cedillo, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng, Feuer,
Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto,
Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller,
Mitchell, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner,
Solorio, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Ammiano, Chesbro, Hayashi, Swanson
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonilla, Conway, Fletcher, Furutani,
Hall, Roger Hernández, Monning, Smyth
CONTINUED
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CTW:d 8/8/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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