Assisted Outpatient Treatment in Orange County is So Far All Voluntary

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According to the Orange County Register, four months into the implementation of “Laura’s Law” for Assisted Outpatient Treatment, everyone offered extra services has chosen to use them voluntarily.

“(I)n its first four months, Laura’s Law has proven to be neither curse nor cure: Nearly 500 inquiries and referrals have come in to the Assisted Outpatient Treatment program, as it is formally known – an average of four per day – but not a single person has been ordered into treatment against his or her will,” reports the Register.

Watchdog: A look back at Laura’s Law in Orange County, which forced mentally ill people into treatment (Orange County Register, February 14, 2015)

5 COMMENTS

  1. I find that hard to believe unless they really offer a lot of non-drug support to draw people in (although I’d prefer being homeless and starving than lobotomized). I think that psychiatric coercion of the kind: “are you staying voluntarily or should we commit you and put this on your record?” may be working “wonders”.

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  2. “But how will we know if it works?

    Officials promised to monitor those placed in the program, track all data and outcomes associated with implementing it, and evaluate its effectiveness “with regard to reducing homelessness, incarceration and hospitalization of persons served.””
    We know it does not. There were studies on such laws and they show at best no effect at worst negative effect. But let’s all ignore that and pretend like we have a completely new experimental program here. What a bs. Btw, if they want to keep “schizophrenics” off the streets there’s a very easy way to do that – public housing and assisted living programs. No need for drugs.

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