New bill would let therapists, social workers decide when to confine mentally ill people

A mother’s hug was on California Sen. Aisha Wahab’s mind when she authored a controversial state bill that would allow social workers and therapists to decide when to confine someone against their will so they can be treated for mental illness.

Wahab was once a member of the Hayward City Council, and she’d just voted to create a local program that would send medical and mental health professionals to certain 911 calls, in an effort to reduce police officers interacting as much with mentally ill people.