Title
Adopt a Resolution to:
Authorize County of Monterey to opt-out of AB1976, Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), also known as Laura's Law.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors adopt a Resolution to:
Authorize County of Monterey to opt-out of AB1976, Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT), also known as Laura's Law.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
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.
When first passed in 2002, 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 establish the program. The law also requires that existing ...
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