MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY AWARD PRESENTED TO SHERIFF LEE BACA
Sheriff Lee Baca was honored on May 6, 2003, at the California Coalition for Mental Health's "Annual Mental Health Advocacy Day Celebration" luncheon, in Sacramento, California, along with various law enforcement leaders.
This event, hosted by the California Coalition for Mental Health (CCMH), presented awards to honor law enforcement officials for working tirelessly to address proper treatment of individuals living with mental illness, who are often neglected, ignored, or mistreated and thus end up entangled in the criminal justice system. Accepting the award on behalf of Sheriff Baca was Marc Klugman, Commander of Correctional Services Division.
Traditionally, the Mental Health Advocacy Award is bestowed to legislators, governors, and their staff, who support and sign mental health legislation and to significant newspaper feature writers whose front-page stories help advocate mental health issues. However, this year, CCMH honored Changed Agents Addressing Mental Health Issues Within Law Enforcement.
Law enforcement agencies have unfortunately become the caretakers of last resort for many homeless and mentally ill individuals. The Los Angeles County jail system has become the largest mental hospital in the nation. The Mental Evaluation Team (M.E.T.) program was established to assist field deputies with interaction involving mentally ill, suicidal and gravely disabled individuals. The M.E.T. program also provides supplemental crisis intervention techniques to defuse potentially volatile situations; and arrange placement and transport of mentally ill individuals to appropriate facilities.
The men and women of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department have been instrumental in advocating effective mental health intervention and have taken a leadership role in dedicating resources to those with mental illness, such as supporting local and state programs created by initiatives AB 34 (Steinberg, 1999) program and the Mentally Ill Offender Crime Reduction (MIOCR) Grant program.
Sheriff Baca, who was disappointed he could not attend the ceremony remarked, "These few accomplishments are due to the leadership role of the men and women of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, who openly campaigned for the help for those afflicted with mental illness through advocacy for appropriate resources and community-based programs that rehabilitate and return individuals to meaningful lives."
Sheriff Baca stressed, "We must attach a sense of urgency to building social service systems that address the issue and continue to renew our efforts to learn how to work with "service resistant" individuals, who may be both mentally ill and drug or alcohol addicted."
SHB- 36A-03
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May 7, 2003