Two new studies should lead to widespread use of Laura’s Law in California

Two new studies (including one reported in the New York Times) should lead to widespread adoption of Laura’s Law in California as a way to help some people with the most serious mental illnesses. Laura’s Law allows courts to order a narrowly defined group of individuals who have a history of violence to stay in treatment while living in the community. It has reduced violence, incarceration, hospitalization and homelessness wherever it has been used.

The first study was conducted in Australia and found 25% of individuals with schizophrenia were charged with a criminal offense during their lifetime. 6.4% of those with schizophrenia and 22.8% of those with schizophrenia plus substance abuse were charged with violent crimes compared to only 2.4% in the control group.

Unfortunately, California’s non-profit mental health industry continues to deny a relationship between violence and untreated serious mental illness and therefore oppose programs like Laura’s Law that can reduce the violence. They also claim it is too expensive.

A second study from Duke University studied New York’s version of Laura’s Law and found any increase in cost is dramatically offset by reduced hospitalization and incarceration costs.

Two Studies Should Lead to Radical Change in Mental Illness Treatment

The first study was conducted in Australia and found  individuals with schizophrenia – even those who do not have substance abuse problems – are significantly more violent than the general population.  The study found

·      25% of individuals with schizophrenia were charged with a criminal offense during their lifetime, compared with 10% of community controls.

·      6.4% of those with schizophrenia were found guilty of a violent offense, and 22.8% of those with schizophrenia plus substance abuse were found guilty of a violent offense compared to 2.4% of the general population

Assisted Outpatient Treatment for Seriously Mentally Ill Cuts Costs in Half

According to a just released study in the July 30, 2013, American Journal of Psychiatry, mandating Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) for a narrowly defined group of persons with serious mental illness results in substantial savings. AOT allows courts to order individuals with serious mental illness and a history of treatment noncompliance to stay in treatment as a condition of staying in the community. It is only available for those who are so ill, they have a past history of going off the treatments that prevented them from becoming hospitalized, arrested, homeless or incarcerated. For this small group of the most seriously ill, AOT is a less expensive, less restrictive, more humane alternative to involuntary inpatient commitment and incarceration.

Researchers at Duke found that treatment costs declined 50 percent in New York City after the first year of AOT, and another 13 percent the second year. Even larger cost savings were reported in five other New York counties. Previous studies have proven AOT dramatically improves care for people with serious mental illness who have trouble staying in treatment voluntarily.