Dan Morain is freelancing after having spent four decades working for news organizations where he focused on public policy and politics. Morain authored the first biography of Kamala Harris, "Kamala's Way, An American Life," published by Simon & Schuster in 2021. He is now working on a new book focused on the politics of our mental health care system. For the California Health Equity Fellowship, Morain will examine how the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, which was signed by Governor Reagan in 1967 and transformed how California treats people with severe mental illness, still affects the state to this day.
Fellowships Received
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Frank Lanterman became the most consequential legislators of his time by leading the effort to transform how California cares for people with severe mental illness.
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In the 1960s, California’s mental health system confined patients with minimal hearings. A 1966 report led to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, granting rights and limiting forced hospitalization.
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A new project will take a fresh look at the history and politics of deinstitutionalization in California, which left many people with severe mental illness with no plan to provide for their care.