Reforming Conservatorship Laws Will Save Lives
Having worked to reduce homelessness for the better part of two decades, I’ve spoken with countless people living on the streets and in shelters, and I learned long ago that everyone has a unique story about how they came to be without a place to call home.
Many simply can’t afford a place to live. Some have struggled with drug addiction. Others haven’t been able to overcome the effects of past trauma in their lives. And then, there are those who are unable to tell their story at all because they suffer from such serious mental illness that they are not reachable in a conversation.
Under my administration, the City of San Diego is developing solutions to meet all of these unique circumstances, and it’s that latter group – those with severe mental illness – who I’m working to help through advocacy at the state Capitol.
We see the need for this advocacy represented every day on our streets. It might be someone you’ve seen screaming at someone only they can see. Maybe it’s someone half-naked, sleeping in a doorway.
The painful, but real-life truth of the matter is: These are folks who are so severely mentally ill, they're incapable of taking care of themselves or recognizing the need for them to seek help. And our current mental health system makes it next to impossible to get them care. What that means is means they’re left to suffer and die on our streets.
I can’t accept that, and that’s why I’ve been pushing mental health reform in our State Captiol and why I am such a strong supporter of Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman’s package of legislation to reform California’s conservatorship laws and compel treatment for some extremely sick people who can’t help themselves.
The two bills Senator Eggman has introduced will modernize our State’s behavioral health care system by broadening the definition of “gravely disabled” to include the inability to attend to one’s own medical care and self-protection, and also by creating a real-time online dashboard of available beds at nearby psychiatric and substance-abuse facilities.
It's long past time to address the heartbreaking tragedy unfolding on the streets of San Diego and across California, and I will do everything in my power to help get it done.
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