Martin Espinoza

The largest psychiatric facility in Sonoma County is not a hospital. It’s the jail.

A Cotati woman describes a fragmented system of mental health care that at times treated her with dignity while at others like a criminal or animal. A Santa Rosa mother decries a system of services that abandons all but the wealthy and very poor.

A common dilemma faced by law enforcement officials in Sonoma County California and across the nation: What do you do with someone whose mental health crisis does not yet present a major risk of injury or death?

When a psychiatric patient shows up at the emergency room at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, the staff quickly removes anything dangerous before placing them in a treatment room.