Muhammad, who declined to provide his last name, warms his hands at a fire next to his tent in Sacramento. Feb. 24, 2022. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMattersCalifornia families that have long sought sweeping reforms to the state’s mental health care system are feeling hopeful about Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to pursue a bond measure and update the Mental Health Services Act.Randall Hagar is a policy consultant and legislative advocate for the Psychiatric Physicians Alliance of California.
My son is 44 years old and was diagnosed at the age of 15. During one 18-month period, he’d been homeless and was hospitalized on 72-hour emergency holds seven times in eight counties. He was arrested four times in three of those counties for minor offenses such as sleeping in a parked car or stealing cigarettes.
Each time he was released back to me, I placed him in care homes where he was free to come and go. He then predictably stopped taking his medication and returned to the streets. Scoring street drugs worsened his condition, and he lived homeless on the streets for months at a time. I would meet him irregularly for visits when he called me to come get him. More than once, I found him with his face so bruised and bloody that he required medical attention.
This story is sadly familiar to thousands of families with loved ones who lack the capacity to take care of their most basic needs. Despite being profoundly disabled, they are free to stop taking their meds and wander in the darkest canyons of cities riddled with danger and overrun by homelessness. Dan Walters brings his passion for government transparency to issues affecting Californians. Get a round-up of his columns.