Symposium on Protecting and Treating those Destabilized by Mental Illness: Beyond the Asylum and the Jail

A Symposium Offered by UC Berkeley School of Law, UCLA Semel Institute, The Commonwealth Club of California, and The San Francisco Foundation

UC Berkeley and UCLA - Thursday, May 27, 2008

For registration and agenda, please visit: www.MentalHealthLawSymposium.com

Decades after budget cuts and civil rights concerns led to the dismantling of the state mental hospital system, jails and prisons have become the nation’s largest mental institutions. What happened? In 1967, California passed the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act, a nationally influential civil rights law intended to “end the inappropriate, indefinite, and involuntary commitment of mentally disordered persons,” “protect public safety,” and “protect mentally disordered persons and developmentally disabled persons from criminal acts.” Despite these noble objectives, the legislation has led to many unforeseen consequences, moving too many of those who are seriously mentally ill from state hospitals to city streets and county and state prisons. Forty years later, the goal of restoring lives and preventing incarceration and homelessness remains incomplete. How can we move forward in a more health-centered, compassionate, and fiscally responsible way? On May 27, a group of legal and clinical experts and advocates will explore what can be done about this crisis in our mental health and criminal justice systems.

The keynote speech will be delivered by Peter Earley, author of Crazy, A Father's Search Through America's Mental Health Madness, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for general nonfiction in 2007. Since its publication, Early has visited 26 states, urging our nation to reform its mental health system and stop the imprisonment of persons with brain disorders. This symposium will specifically look at ways in which current state law can and should be revamped, touching on the mounting costs of state prisons.

Come to learn more and share your vision for creating a new safety-net to prevent homelessness and the criminalization of those destabilized by mental illness. Join us to identify emerging pathways of legal, clinical, and policy innovation.

Participants may attend the video-conferenced symposium at UC Berkeley’s Wheeler Auditorium or UCLA’s Semel Institute Auditorium. The panels will be digitally recorded and made available online for video streaming and podcasting.

There is no charge to attend and lunch will be provided at each site. Continuing education credits are available for physicians, psychologists, and LSCWs.

For an agenda, speakers list, and registration, visit www.mentalhealthlawsymposium.com