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Orange County Register

February 15, 2004

Reprinted with permission of the author. All rights reserved.

LETTER
'Laura's Law' fills a gap for mentally ill who need help most

Orange County is lucky to have a man like Xavier Espinosa chairing the mental health board ["His empathy plays role in mental-health policy," Local News, Feb. 6]. Hopefully, his philosophy about people with severe mental illnesses will translate into Orange County's adoption of California's "Laura's law."

New York's implementation of a similar law has led to staggering results - after six months in outpatient commitment, there was a sharp decline for those in the program in incidences of hospitalization, homelessness, arrest and incarceration from pre-outpatient commitment levels. There were also significant reductions in harm to self and harm to others.

"Laura's law" is designed to help a small group of people who are the most ill, people who use a disproportionate share of services with no long-term benefit.

It provides the missing components, which have for too long prevented these mentally ill from getting the care they need and deserve.

Nomi Lonky

Yorba Linda