CLICK HERE to see the CBS News 60 Minutes segment aired last night, “Nowhere to Go: Mentally ill youth in crisis,” that dramatically captured attention across the US.

“Last November 19th, Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds was slashed and stabbed repeatedly by his own son. Gus Deeds was 24 years old and had been struggling with mental illness. He and his father had been in an emergency room just hours before the attack but didn’t get the help that they needed. The story of what went wrong with his medical care exposes a problem in the way that America handles mental health. It’s a failure that came to the fore with the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary School.”

Similar failure and preventable tragedies happen here in Los Angeles County.

“Even when patients are admitted to the hospital, “they keep them until they are OK.  But OK usually means—OK for the moment. Typically, insurance companies pay for this care only as long as the patients are – quote — at “imminent risk” of harming themselves or others.”

This is also true of Los Angeles County.

“Many patients need care for months or years. But there are few facilities of that kind, they’re expensive, and often insurance won’t cover them. So kids in crisis spin in the emergency room’s revolving door.”

English: Downtown Los Angeles as seen from my American Airlines flight from Japan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With your help and the full implementation of California’s AB 1421, Laura’s Law, this will not be true of Los Angeles County. Write your LA County Supervisor.  Ask them to support full implementation of AB 1421, Laura’s Law in LA County!  To find your supervisor CLICK HERE.