"We have a situation where courts can mandate so-called treatment, but can't actually mandate treatment like necessary medication that provides the relief that is desperately needed,"
"The result is predictable: people fall off their care plans, they deteriorate, they cycle again through our emergency rooms, psychiatric holds, jails and back out onto the street. This is not compassion, it's failure."
"Too many people in San Francisco are falling into crisis when intervention could - and should - come sooner. At the center of this effort is a simple reality: Stability is the gateway to recovery,"
"For many people with severe mental illness, medication is what allows treatment to work at all. Without it, housing placements fail, care plans break down, and crises repeat themselves - often with greater harm each time."
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie supports a proposed state law that would allow courts to authorize involuntary medication for people with behavioral health issues. City officials contend courts can mandate treatment but often cannot mandate necessary medication, causing people to fall off care plans and cycle through emergency rooms, psychiatric holds, jails, and the streets. The city launched the Rapid Enforcement, Support, Evaluation, and Triage Center as an alternative to jail or hospitalization for public intoxication. The mayor consolidated street outreach teams and opened a drop-in mental health stabilization center at 822 Geary under the 2025 Breaking the Cycle plan. Lurie says medication provides stability that enables recovery, successful housing, and functioning care plans.
Read at Kqed
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