Disability Rights California has long argued that the voices of people with lived experience with mental health disabilities are missing from the creation of policies about mental illness. In the last few years, California has enacted sweeping legislation to rewrite mental health law, in ways likely to increase the amount of involuntary treatment.

In his recent book, Conservatorship Inside California’s System of Coercion and Care for Mental Illness, Alex Barnard warns that reforms to expand conservatorship will lead to more coercion, but little transformative care until government assumes accountability for ensuring the health and dignity of its most vulnerable citizens. Professor Barnard’s book, “takes readers to the streets where police encounter homeless people in crisis, the locked wards where people receiving treatment are confined, and the courtrooms where judges decide on conservatorship petitions.” 

Conservatorship in California Full Webinar

On November 30, 2023, the Public Policy Unit of Disability Rights California (DRC) hosted a discussion on Conservatorship in California with Alex Barnard and Keris Myrick. Disability Rights California has long argued that the voices of people with lived experience with mental health disabilities are missing from the creation of policies about mental illness. In the last few years, California has enacted sweeping legislation to rewrite mental health law, in ways likely to increase the amount of involuntary treatment.

In his recent book, Conservatorship Inside California’s System of Coercion and Care for Mental Illness, Alex Barnard warns that reforms to expand conservatorship will lead to more coercion, but little transformative care until government assumes accountability for ensuring the health and dignity of its most vulnerable citizens. Professor Barnard’s book, “takes readers to the streets where police encounter homeless people in crisis, the locked wards where people receiving treatment are confined, and the courtrooms where judges decide on conservatorship petitions.”

Speakers:

Alex V. Barnard is an assistant professor of sociology at New York University. He received his PhD from UC Berkeley. His research examines decision-making in public mental health care in France and the United States.

Keris Jän Myrick is a member of DRC’s board of directors. A nationally known mental health advocate, she is the Vice President of Partnerships at Inseparable, the policy liaison for The National Association of Peer Supporters (N.A.P.S.) and on the Mental Health of America board of directors.