by Victoria Colliver for San Francisco Chronicle.


San Francisco will become the fifth county in the state next week to implement Laura’s Law, the state measure that allows the courts to compel mentally ill people who have resisted care to get outpatient treatment.
 
Almost 16 months after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed to enact the law — and after years of debate weighing public protection and the civil rights of mentally ill patients — the city has set up its program and determined how patients who are court-ordered to seek treatment will get the care they need.
 
“We have a mental illness crisis across our country, and we see it every day in San Francisco,” said Supervisor Mark Farrell, who introduced the legislation last year to implement Laura’s Law in San Francisco. “It’s visible among our homeless population, and there are countless families and other individuals.”

With mental illness clearly on display — with people regularly shouting incoherently on the streets and even lunging at passersby — it’s easy to see Laura’s Law as a catchall for anyone who has fallen through the cracks in San Francisco. But it won’t solve all the city’s homeless crisis and other social problems that accompany mental illness, city officials say. Laura’s Law provides just another tool to help those who need care.
 
“It’s important for families, and it’s important for law enforcement officers who are witnesses to the mental health deterioration on our streets and in the homes,” Farrell said.

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