Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/national-alliance-on-mental-illness/)
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, 3,791 people had signed a change.org petition asking Knott’s Berry Farm to reverse its decision Tuesday to close a virtual reality scare show featuring patients in a mental institution.
Less than a week after it opened, Knott’s Berry Farm Tuesday shuttered a Halloween attraction criticized by mental health advocates for perpetuating the social stigma of mental illness.
A new Halloween horror attraction that opened last week at Knott’s Berry Farm has drawn criticism from advocates who say it includes offensive and dehumanizing depictions of mental health patients.
For years, local political leaders largely ignored Orange County’s severe shortage of psychiatric beds, which has contributed to, among other things, the current homelessness crisis. But they are beginning to direct their policymaking to the problem.
More than 130 people showed up to a hearing organized by supervisors Andrew Do and Lisa Bartlett, with many describing a mental health system that is dysfunctional. But others expressed a sense of hope about its potential.
Orange County’s unspent millions is just one example of how a massive program created by a ballot initiative to improve mental health programs has major accountability issues, watchdogs say.
OC is state’s largest county to adopt court-ordered outpatient mental health treatment. Hearing marked by outpouring of emotional testimony.
A cautious Board of Supervisors will decide whether Orange will be the first large California county to approve Laura’s Law.