California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law that makes it easier to put people with serious mental health and addiction problems into a conservatorship.
Senate Bill 43, written by state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, is the first update to the state’s conservatorship law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, in 50 years.
It includes people who are unable to provide for their personal safety or necessary medical care due to severe substance use disorder or serious mental health illnesses.
People placed into a conservatorship are often done so involuntarily by family members who are then empowered to make basic health care and other decisions for them.
“Treatments for mental illness can be wonderfully effective, but our laws often prevent us from providing them to individuals who are at mortal risk on our streets. SB 43 will help us provide life saving care,” said Psychiatric Physicians Alliance of California president Dr. Ron Thurston.
On Tuesday, San Francisco Mayor London Breed issued an executive directive aimed at implementing the new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2024.
“By expanding the definition of grave disability to include those who live with severe substance use disorder and those who are unable to provide for their own personal safety or necessary medical care, SB 43 offers a way to stabilize individuals who are most at risk of fatal overdoses and who are repeatedly harming themselves by providing compulsory wraparound care and treatment,” a news release from Breed’s office said.
