A new California law will make it harder for some individuals to qualify for the state’s mental health diversion program, which allows people who have committed crimes to avoid charges and incarceration for mental-health-related reasons. District attorneys from across Northern California gathered at the state Capitol to celebrate the passage of Assembly Bill 46, which gives judges more power to deny mental health diversion to individuals who pose a substantial risk to the physical safety of others. The law doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1, but the district attorneys suggested they will make the case to judges that they should consider the new law when handling mental health diversion applicants within the next several months. “This is part of the conversation that we’re engaging right now with judges,” said Sacramento DA Thien Ho. “Right now, judges have to act and view a case under the current prism of the law. However, judges also understand as well that we have six, five months left in the year and at the end of that period of time, a new law. Judges will have to apply current law now as it stands.” Critics of the new law, including criminal justice group Ella Baker Center have said it could reduce opportunities for mental health treatment and limit access to the program regardless of an applicant’s circumstances. “We believe the mental health diversion program is a good program but it needs to be good for the right individual and by granting it to individuals who can reoffend again in the worst possible way, it makes this program not so good of a program in the public’s eye,” Elk Grove Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen said. Some state lawmakers have spent years trying to change the mental health diversion program, which critics argue allows some criminals to avoid punishment. California lawmakers are currently on a monthlong summer break. When they return, they are expected to consider additional measures that could add more guardrails to the state’s mental health diversion program. That proposal SB 1373 would allow courts to have an evidentiary hearing on the mental health diagnosis of an applicant. That proposal is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee awaiting a hearing. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
A new California law will make it harder for some individuals to qualify for the state’s mental health diversion program, which allows people who have committed crimes to avoid charges and incarceration for mental-health-related reasons.
District attorneys from across Northern California gathered at the state Capitol to celebrate the passage of Assembly Bill 46, which gives judges more power to deny mental health diversion to individuals who pose a substantial risk to the physical safety of others.
The law doesn’t take effect until Jan. 1, but the district attorneys suggested they will make the case to judges that they should consider the new law when handling mental health diversion applicants within the next several months.
“This is part of the conversation that we’re engaging right now with judges,” said Sacramento DA Thien Ho. “Right now, judges have to act and view a case under the current prism of the law. However, judges also understand as well that we have six, five months left in the year and at the end of that period of time, a new law. Judges will have to apply current law now as it stands.”
Critics of the new law, including criminal justice group Ella Baker Center have said it could reduce opportunities for mental health treatment and limit access to the program regardless of an applicant’s circumstances.
“We believe the mental health diversion program is a good program but it needs to be good for the right individual and by granting it to individuals who can reoffend again in the worst possible way, it makes this program not so good of a program in the public’s eye,” Elk Grove Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen said.
Some state lawmakers have spent years trying to change the mental health diversion program, which critics argue allows some criminals to avoid punishment.
California lawmakers are currently on a monthlong summer break. When they return, they are expected to consider additional measures that could add more guardrails to the state’s mental health diversion program. That proposal SB 1373 would allow courts to have an evidentiary hearing on the mental health diagnosis of an applicant.
That proposal is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee awaiting a hearing.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel | Make KCRA a preferred news source in Google