Local News in Brief : Confinement Legislation
County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and other local officials Friday hailed proposed state legislation that would extend the time authorities can confine mentally ill patients as the “most decisive step in 20 years to aid the mentally ill homeless.”
Antonovich, joined at a news conference by Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block, Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn and Los Angeles County Mental Health Director Roberto Quiroz, urged passage of a bill that would permit authorities to keep disturbed men and women in mental hospitals for longer periods than now allowed by law.
Currently, those who are mentally disturbed can be held against their will for 72 hours for evaluation and treatment if they are considered dangerous to themselves or others. If doctors believe they need more treatment, they can be kept an additional 14 days provided that a Superior Court hearing officer agrees.
Under a new bill, proposed by Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress), mental patients could be held for another 30 days without a court order and would be required to accept outpatient care after their release.
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