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Tulare County to opt out of unfunded Assisted Outpatient Treatment program, shift clients to Care Court services
Summary
The Board of Supervisors authorized Behavioral Health to opt out of the county's unfunded Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT/Laura's Law) program effective July 1, 2025, directing eligible individuals to be served through the county's Care Court and expanded high‑intensity field services.
The Tulare County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to authorize the county Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) Behavioral Health Branch to opt out of the unfunded Assisted Outpatient Treatment program (commonly known as Laura’s Law) effective July 1, 2025.
The move means individuals who would have been eligible for AOT will instead be served by the county’s Care Court program and an expanded “care at risk” arm that provides high‑intensity field‑based wraparound services, Behavioral Health Director Natalie Bullen told the board.
The nut graf: The county argued the opt‑out is a fiscal necessity and that Care Court and the expanded services already in place will provide comparable or greater levels of care for people with severe mental illness. Board members pressed staff on whether the small number of people served under AOT would be left without services; staff said the county has capacity to serve them through Care Court and related…
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