Twelve referrals in nearly 60 days sounds like nothing at all. But for Marina — a single mom with an adult child locked up in one of the County Jail’s isolation cells for crimes committed under the influence of schizophrenia — it’s the answer to six years’ worth of prayers.
When Laura’s Law went into effect in Santa Barbara County on January 1, Marina (not her real name) was one of the first to call the Department of Behavioral Wellness. The law — still controversial in many quarters — gives local judges the power to order the most treatment resistant of the seriously mentally ill into outpatient care.
By any measure, Marina’s son qualified. In the past six years, he’s been jailed four times for various misdemeanors and placed in psychiatric hospitals eight times. Four times, he was sent to the County’s Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF), better known as “the Puff Unit.” Twice he was dispatched to the Aurora Vista del Mar facility in Ventura County, and two times he was placed in facilities out of state.