Title
a. Receive a presentation on AB 1976, Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT); and
b. Provide direction to staff.
Presenter: Jon Drake, Assistant Bureau Chief, Health Department
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Health, Housing, and Human Services Committee of the Board of Supervisors:
a. Receive a presentation on AB 1976, Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT); and
b. Provide direction to staff.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
Background
In 2002, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1421 (Thomson), also known as Laura's Law. It gives counties the option of implementing involuntary Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) programs for individuals who have difficulty maintaining their mental health stability and have frequent hospitalizations and contact with law enforcement related to untreated or undertreated mental illness.
As defined by California Welfare and Institutions Code sections 5345-5349.5, Laura's Law creates an AOT program that provides court-ordered treatment (not medication) for persons with severe mental illness who meet the following criteria:
1) Must be 18 years of age or older,
2) Is suffering from a mental illness,
3) Is unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision,
4) Has a history of lack of compliance with treatment,
5) Has a substantially deteriorating condition, and
6) Participation in AOT would be the least restrictive placement.
Plus, one of the following conditions:
1) The person, within the last 36 months, has required two psychiatric hospitalizations or placements in a correctional facility due to their mental illness, or
2) The person's mental illness has resulted in one or more attempts or threats of serious and violent behavior toward himself/herself or another within the last 48 months.
The adoption of Laura's Law under AB1421 was optional for each County. Counties had to opt-in and the County Board of Supervisors had to pass a resolution or act through the county budget process to establis...
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