What is the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act?

The Lanterman-Petris-Short Act was hailed as a landmark piece of legislation when it was passed in the late 1960s, and it has had a significant impact on mental health treatment throughout the United States since then. What was the purpose of this law, and is it still in effect?

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What Is the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act?

The Lanterman-Petris-Short Act is a section of California law that set new legal standards for involuntary admissions to mental health treatment facilities. Commonly referred to as the LPS Act, it was signed into law in 1967 and went into full in 1972.

The law is named after three state legislators who played key roles in its passage: Assemblyman Frank Lanterman, Sen. Nicholas Petris, and Sen. Alan Short. 

What Are the 9 Goals of the LPS Act?

The introduction to the LPS Act identified 9 goals:

1. To end the inappropriate, indefinite, and involuntary commitment of persons with mental health disorders, developmental disabilities, and chronic alcoholism, and to eliminate legal disabilities
2. To provide prompt evaluation and treatment of persons with mental health disorders or chronic alcoholism
3. To guarantee and protect public safety
4. To safeguard individual rights through judicial review
5. To provide individualized treatment, supervision, and placement services by a conservatorship program for persons who are gravely disabled
6. To encourage the full use of all existing agencies, professional personnel, and public funds to accomplish these objectives
7. To protect persons with mental health disorders and developmental disabilities from criminal acts
8. To provide consistent standards for protection of the personal rights of persons receiving  services
9. To provide services in the least restrictive setting appropriate to the needs of each person receiving services

Why Is the LPS Act Important?

Prior to the passage of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, California’s treatment of people with serious mental illnesses was abysmal. Treatment was not a priority, with state-run psychiatric asylums primarily serving as warehouses for people who had been deemed incapable or unworthy of living among the general public.

According to a report from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, about 37,000 people were held in asylums in California in 1959. Most of these people had been admitted without their consent and were unable either contest their admission or appeal to be discharged. 

To underscore the assembly line nature of involuntary admissions at the time, the Annenberg report noted that hearings to determine if a person should be sent to an asylum lasted an average of 4.7 minutes, with about a third of the hearings lasting less than two minutes.

By 1983, a little over a decade after the LPS Act went into full effect, the population of California’s state-run asylums had fallen to about 2,500. This represented a 93% reduction from the peak in the late 1950s.

Does the LPS Act Authorize Involuntary Treatment Holds?

Though the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act is commonly viewed as the law that ended involuntary mental health admissions in California, that perspective isn’t completely accurate. It’s still possible for someone to be admitted to a psychiatric facility against their will. 

Rather than banning the process entirely, the LPS Act established strict standards for who can be involuntarily detained in a mental health facility. The act also limits the amount of time a person can be held and clarifies the rights they retain while in the facility. 

5150 Holds

Perhaps the most widely recognized aspect of the LPS Act is a feature called a 5150 hold. The name is a reference to the section of the law that details the criteria and process for detaining a person for a mental health evaluation and treatment.  

According to Section 5150, a person may be taken into custody for up to 72 hours if they have a mental illness and, as a result of that mental illness, either:

• Pose a threat to themselves
• Pose a threat to someone else
• Are gravely disabled

Senate Bill 43 (SB 43), which was signed into law in 2023, made two changes to these criteria:

• Altered the definition of “gravely disabled” to include people who are unable to meet their own basic needs in terms of food, clothing, shelter, personal safety, or medical needs.
• Added addiction to the reasons that a person could be placed on a 5150 hold. Prior to this change, a person had to have a mental illness to meet the criteria. Now, posing a threat to yourself or others or being gravely disabled due to a severe substance abuse problem can also qualify you for a 5150 hold.

5250 Holds

Once a person has been detained under Section 5150, a 72-hour clock begins to tick. During that period, the individual must be taken to an authorized psychiatric facility and examined by a qualified professional. 

If the evaluation determines that the person doesn’t meet the 5150 criteria, they can be released immediately. 

If the assessment instead indicates that the patient needs additional treatment, two things can occur:

• The patient agrees to treatment, which makes them a voluntary admission and ends the 5150 hold.
• The patient doesn’t agree to treatment, which requires the facility to request a 14-day extension of the involuntary hold under Section 5250.

Once the 5250 request is filed, a hearing must be held to determine if sufficient evidence exists to merit the continued involuntary admission. The facility is required to provide that evidence, and the patient or their advocate may argue against their continued detainment.

A 5250 hold may be extended once, for a total of 28 days in treatment plus the original 72 hours under the 5150 hold. 

If the individual still poses a risk to themselves or others, or continues to meet the definition of gravely disabled, California law provides for additional involuntary treatment and potentially the appointment of a conservator.

Do Patients Have Rights Under the LPS Act?

Yes, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act clearly establishes that patients have rights while involuntarily detained due to a mental illness or substance use disorder.

A handbook created by the California Department of Healthcare Services documents patient rights such as:

• The right to be represented by a patient’s right advocate or attorney
• The right to communicate with and visit privately with their advocate or an attorney
• The right to refuse treatment or medication except in an emergency or if a capacity hearing determines that the patient is incapable of making these decisions
• The right to humane care
• The right to be free of abuse, neglect, and discrimination
• The right to religious freedom and practice
• The right to participate in appropriate publicly funded educational programs

Find Mental Health Treatment in Northern California

Bright Future Recovery is a trusted source of personalized treatment for adults whose lives have been disrupted by mental health conditions and substance use disorders.

The continuum of care at luxury rehab in Northern California includes detox, residential care, a partial hospitalization program (PHP), an intensive outpatient program (IOP), and virtual (online) outpatient services.

Call (831) 245-1623 today to learn more or verify your insurance now.