Dear Mental Health Community,

As an organization that is comprised of, supports and works with individuals with psychiatric disabilities, we at MHA-SF find Proposition D offensive and discriminatory. As most of you know, Proposition D is the Laguna Honda Special Use District on the June 6 ballot. This proposition changes the admission policy at Laguna Honda to exclude:
1. Persons who pose a danger to themselves or to others, or pose a threat to the maintenance of a safe environment at Laguna Honda
2. Persons whose need for skilled nursing care is based on a primarily psychiatric or behavioral diagnosis
3. Patients whose projected treatment is short-term
4. Non-residents of San Francisco

Prop. D will change the planning code and put a Planning Department official in charge of making health care and admissions decisions at Laguna Honda. Additionally, there are concerns about how Prop. D will allow private developers to build for-profit facilities on public lands in parcels designated as “public use districts” under the planning code.

MHA-SF is very concerned about the ways Prop. D discriminates against individuals with psychiatric disabilities. The signaling out and refusing to serve “persons whose need for skilled nursing care is based on a medical diagnosis that is not primarily psychiatric or behavioral” violates a variety of state and federal laws. In a recent report from Protection and Advocacy Inc, Prop D wa s f ound to violate 9 state and federal anti-discrimination laws including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Housing Act. Implementation of such an ordinance would put the City “at risk of losing all state and federal funding for services at the hospital.”

In addition to discriminating against people with psychiatric disabilities, this proposition also further stigmatizes people with mental illness by suggesting that individuals with a primary psychiatric diagnosis are violent. When in fact, studies have consistently shown that people with mental illness are no more likely than members of the general public to commit acts of violence and a recent study ha s f ound that people with mental illness are actually 23 times more likely to be victims of violent crimes than perpetrators.

Additionally, as an organization that support full inclusion in the community and providing a variety of option s f or community based living, we believe that most people with mental illness are better served in the community. However, as a result of lack of options and budget concerns, people with mental illness should have the right, as others do in San Francisco , to access service at Laguna Honda. We resent the stigmatization and discrimination of those with psychiatric disabilities under the guise of protecting our elderly.

Alecia Hopper, M.P.A