Excerpted from CalMatters
By Emily Hoeven
If the pandemic made one thing clear in California, it’s that the state often fails to protect its most vulnerable residents.
That was the takeaway from an emotional eight-hour hearing Wednesday, during which state lawmakers listened to testimony about possible reforms to a state law governing how and when severely mentally ill family members can be forced into treatment.
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It was also the takeaway from a Monday legislative hearing, during which Democratic Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris of Laguna Beach said the California Department of Health Care Services has blood on its hands for failing to adequately regulate addiction treatment facilities.