“At a time when homelessness in California has reached a point of crisis, criminal justice leaders need to finally address the way we treat the mentally ill and how our institutions respond to incidents of mental health crisis.

The criminal justice system needs to better treat people living with mental illness for a wide variety of reasons, as the current system is bad for taxpayers, public safety officers and most importantly, the people struggling with mental health issues.

During a mental health crisis, people are more likely to encounter police than get medical help, and as a result, end up in the criminal justice system, frequently for minor nonviolent offenses.”