Tuesday the County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to expand the In-Home Outreach Team (IHOT), a locally developed pilot program launched in January 2012.
The program provides intensive outreach to adults with serious mental illness who are reluctant to receive help. The goal of the program is to link these adults with mental health services while also providing support and education to the individual’s family members.
As part of the same action, the supervisors will also receive quarterly reports on the expansion of IHOT, and updates on progress towards implementing Assembly Bill (AB) 1421, also known as Laura’s Law, which is an assisted outpatient treatment program passed by the California legislature in 2002. The progress reports will focus on funding, legislative changes to Laura’s Law, and ongoing data analysis to validate the need for local implementation.
The County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) provides an array of services for adults who are seriously mentally ill, including outpatient care and inpatient services at the San Diego Psychiatric Hospital and private hospitals. Annually, HHSA serves more than 41,000 individuals with mental illness.
