Laura’s Law’s limits

Regarding “Laura’s Law has helped — but the need grows worse” (March 11): I am the sister of a young adult who struggles with schizophrenia, a severe and persistent mental illness that causes my brother to become too ill to recognize his need for continuing treatment. It is despairing when the only options of help are the never-ending and costly cycle of incarceration and short-term hospitalization. Laura’s Law has helped to ensure that appropriate continuous treatment services are accessible to our most vulnerable population, reducing hospitalization and incarceration rates and improving public safety for our residents. However, it is also limited.

There is a need for more outpatient treatment centers, to help manage the number of individuals that need treatment. Also, the criterion to qualify is flawed; it is reactive instead of proactive. It requires a mentally ill person to have been without treatment for so long that they are now a threat to themselves or others, or been in the hospital, prison or jail at least twice. These qualifications disqualify people like my brother who still need help. I agree with San Francisco Mayor Mark Farrell: Not treating these individuals is a disservice.

Alejandra Canedo, Walnut Creek