Last week, at a strategy session in the offices of Homeless Health Care Los Angeles, the advocates passed around an outline calling for those who “refuse to accept the status quo” to stipulate, among other things, that “treatment is a right,” and that “to withhold treatment is cruel.”
They’re aware, though, that they need to tread carefully. Celina Alvarez, executive director of the nonprofit Housing Works, said the group needs to make clear that it has no intention of abusing the rights of those with a mental illness or rewriting the law governing involuntary treatment. Instead, they’re interested in a more humane interpretation of existing law, so help is provided to those who desperately need it.
Dr. Jonathan Sherin, L.A. County’s new mental health director, said he’s open to reviewing the recommendations of the advocates. He told me he’ll make it “a departmental priority” to work with other agencies and offer more help to those “suffering on the streets” as part of “our overall effort and duty as a society.”
L.A. County voters just approved a massive infusion of spending on solutions to homelessness, so in the near future, there should be no excuses for lack of treatment and psychiatric beds and services, both short-term and long-term. Not just for the severely disabled, but for the bulk of the estimated 47,000 homeless people in greater L.A.
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