She was a co-chair of the task force that proposed the LPS reforms. Jacobs serves on the mental health commission of the County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health. The distinction, she added, is that if a person is unable to make decisions for their own well-being, then denying access to care imposes an even worse restraint than involuntary treatment. The debate over involuntary care comes at a sensitive time for Californians. Mental health parity legislation signed by Gov. Gray Davis last September and scheduled for implementation this summer means that the state will be expanding services to large populations of individuals.
Legislators are more willing to allocate funds for public mental health care services.
The controversy over involuntary treatment, therefore, risks tearing apart the coalitions needed to encourage lawmakers to increase the general availability of mental health care. Reform foes claim that improved access to quality voluntary care, rather than forced treatment, would solve most of the problems, and generate better outcomes. The threat of pushing people toward a public mental health care system may drive willing patients underground. PAI is a statewide watchdog agency that oversees the treatment provided to institutionalized mentally and developmentally disabled individuals. We see that as a bad sign.