Dear Neighbor,
Last week, I traveled to Sacramento to stand alongside a bipartisan group of big-city mayors and state legislators in the fight for conservatorship reform bills authored by Senator Susan Eggman. These bills would help ensure that our most vulnerable residents suffering from severe mental illness get the care that they need. You can watch the entire press conference on YouTube, but I’ll provide a brief summary in this letter and I hope you will also take a moment to watch my conversation with Kathryn, the mother of a son suffering from serious mental illness, below.
The backstory to the mental health crisis we see on our streets every day starts in the 1960s with a well-intended reform that failed. At the time, many Californians were concerned about the number of people who were held against their will in mental health institutions and the potential for violations of individuals’ civil liberties. And not without reason, as many of these facilities were underfunded and our understanding of mental illness was not what it is today. Many voters also felt that mental health care could be better managed through a more decentralized system of community-based solutions.
Growing calls for reform led to the passage of the Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act in 1967, which significantly curtails the state’s ability to compel individuals into mental health institutions. As the state “de-institutionalized” (or began to shut down mental health hospitals, including Agnews here in San Jose, which many of you may remember), what should have been a shift in funding to alternative solutions never fully took place – nor did those solutions work in the toughest cases without the ability to compel care. From this time to today, our mental health care system went from having over 300 psychiatric beds per 100,000 residents down to just 12 beds per 100,000 residents today.
The result is a system that allows far too many individuals suffering from serious mental illnesses to slip through the cracks, even when their family members fight to get them into care. While not the only or even the main cause of homelessness, we have all witnessed how this failure has contributed to the crisis today.
Almost daily, concerned residents ask me why the man yelling on the corner, running into traffic and living outside is not given the help he needs. I am asked by loved ones why their pleas for care go unanswered as they file the 6th missing persons report attempting to lift their family member in extreme mental distress out of homelessness. I hear from our police officers that they have arrested someone for the 16th time this year – but they don’t believe she can even tell right from wrong.
Thanks to Senator Susan Eggman (who is also one of the CARE court authors), we have the opportunity to support legislation like Senate Bill 43 (SB43) that will help us fill in the cracks.
SB43 ensures conservatorship court proceedings can consider vital testimony about an individual’s circumstances and history from healthcare professionals and clarifies the definition of “gravely disabled” – the threshold needed for consideration of a public conservatorship – to include people whose severe mental health or substance abuse issues prevent them from meeting their basic needs. As you’ll hear below from Kathryn, this legislation could have saved her family years of heartbreak.
Conservatorships are the last line of defense. No one wants to take legal responsibility for another’s well being without compelling justification. But, for families like Kathryn’s and neighbors suffering on our streets without loved ones to advocate for them, we have a moral obligation to demand better from our system and facilitate their recovery.
Taking action now will help our entire community. I hope you stand with me as I advocate for our state to provide life-saving care to those in need. You can sign up right here to let us know you’d like to stay updated on the issues and do what you can to help.
Sincerely,
Matt Mahan
Hear from Kathryn the hurdles she had to jump through to get her son, Andy, the care he needed but could not accept. Andy had Kathryn to advocate for him – but he still suffered, cycling in and out of homelessness, jail and emergency rooms. Kathryn shares that Andy is just one example of the hundreds of people in San Jose who need help. We need to give family members, medical providers, first responders, and community members the ability to get people the care that will allow them to live functioning lives. Today’s laws prevent this, and Senator Eggman's reforms are an important first step towards changing them.
Thanks so much to the “first” of our “first responders” – our 311 call center staff! I celebrated 311 Day by joining the team to answer calls, clean up some blight and help reduce the burden on our police and fire departments. While many of our 311 services are excellent, some still have a long way to go. As improvements are realized, this system could be our greatest tool in activating San Jose’s one million residents and thousands of businesses to become part of the solution to some of our biggest crises. In the March Budget Message, I will be recommending that the City Manager make this service easier to use and more effective.
It's an honor to wish San José's oldest resident a Happy 109th Birthday! Lenore, thank you for being a committed San Joséan all your life and being part of our city's rich history. You and your family have seen San José grow from the Valley of Heart's Delight to the city it is today, and I am happy that you continue to call San José your home. We wish you many more years of health and happiness.
As Dr. Seuss said, “you’re never too old, wacky, or wild to pick up a book & read to a child!” So great to participate in person at Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services Read Across America Day event! I got to share the story of Lola at the Library with our San José Recreation Preschoolers. Fostering an early love of words is essential for promoting brain development, expanding imagination, and developing verbal communication. Looking forward to sharing this book with Nina and Luke!
Huge thanks to Councilmember Candelas, Welch Park Neighborhood Association, BeautifySJ, Project Hope, and all the amazing volunteers who joined forces to beautify our city! Together, we’re making every neighborhood in San José safer and cleaner. Help us get back to the basics by joining us at our next community clean-up event: www.bit.ly/Inaugur-ACTION
Thank you San José Earthquakes for having me on the field on opening night for the “first kick.” Even after all the warm-up and practice, I was relieved to find that Q is a terrible goalie!
Monday, March 13th
Almaden Valley Community Association Budget Town Hall
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm, Westgate Church, 6601 Camden Avenue
RSVP here.
Join the Almaden Valley Community Association and hear our plans to focus the city budget on the essentials, such as homelessness, public safety, and blight. Share your ideas about what should be included in the upcoming March budget message!
Monday, March 20th
District 9 Budget Town Hall
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm, Cambrian Community Center, 3369 Union Avenue
RSVP here.
Come listen to our plans to get back to the basics by focusing the budget on solutions for homelessness, public safety, and cleanliness.
Wednesday, March 22nd
Sikh Community Budget Town Hall
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm, 3636 Gurdwara Ave
Come listen to our plans to get back to the basics by focusing the budget on solutions for homelessness, public safety, and cleanliness.
Thursday, March 23rd
Snack with Matt
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, Nam Gio Vietnamese Restaurant, 2066 Tully Road
RSVP here.
We’ll be hosting our next town hall with Councilmember Candelas at Nam Giao Vietnamese Restaurant in District 8! Join us as we sit down with Quynh to talk about her story as a business owner, followed by the opportunity for neighbors to ask questions and provide feedback on local issues that matter the most to them!
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