A new California approach to mental health emergencies
When the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office released video footage of the death of Tyrell Wilson in a Danville police shooting, the recording captured what has painfully become all too familiar: an avoidable tragedy involving law enforcement and people undergoing a mental health crisis.
At least 1 of every 4 people nationally killed in an interaction with law enforcement has a serious mental health diagnosis, and these victims are disproportionately people of color. Nationwide, more and more communities are acknowledging that mental health emergencies need to be treated by mental health providers, not law enforcement. Thankfully, many state and local governments, including here in California, are working on solutions.
Mental health advocates like us — as well as many in law enforcement — know that how we respond to mental health emergencies is a key part of this conversation. We know what is needed is a “care response” approach that removes law enforcement from almost all cases and instead includes medical and mental health personnel.
This is a model that works, as proven by the Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets initiative in Eugene, Oregon, which for 30 years has engaged unarmed social workers and medics to help people experiencing mental health crises. Of the 24,000 calls the program responded to last year, police backup was requested just 250 times — that’s about 1% of calls.
California is paying attention. San Francisco has a pilot program modeled on the Eugene approach, and Sacramento has proposed starting its own. In the California Assembly, two bills propose new, care-centered ways to respond to health emergencies.
AB 988, introduced by Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, would create a “988” hotline for mental health emergencies. AB 118, introduced by Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager, D-Los Angeles, would provide crucial local funding to create and implement response teams composed of trained mental health professionals, social workers and other more situationally appropriate personnel. Both approaches view mental health calls through a health care lens, not law enforcement, and can help reduce violence.
As professionals working closely with people living with serious mental illness, we’ve seen firsthand the kinds of mental health emergencies that can elicit a wide range of traumatic emotions, paranoia and other triggering reactions. The clubhouse model developed by the nonprofit organization Fountain House creates an environment where people living with serious mental illness are treated with the dignity and respect needed to override stigma and support community-based recovery.
By centering and collaborating with people with serious mental illness, and investing in community-based solutions, we can not only end the stigma around serious mental illness but create a new mental health system that responds to the overall conditions disproportionately impacting people with serious mental illness.
Our state should seize this moment. California can implement a statewide alternative approach to mental health crises by passing critical legislation that develops health-focused models and personnel for responding to these situations — what we call “care responders.”
We applaud Bauer-Kahan and Kamlager for their commitment to people living with serious mental illness. Their proposed legislation offers a better way forward and deserves the support of every member of the state Legislature. It’s time to invest in a new response to mental health emergencies that leads with care and benefits everyone in the community.