California governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that expands the definition of “gravely disabled” to cover not just mental illness, but also substance use disorder and those “unable to provide for their personal safety or necessary medical care” to get more homeless individuals into state-mandated treatment programs. SB 43, authored by State Senator Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, reforms the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act of 1967, a bipartisan bill signed into law by then-governor Ronald Reagan and passed by a Democratic legislature to reduce involuntary mental health commitment of Californians at a time when “warehousing” of the mentally ill into ill-equipped mental health hospitals was the norm.
