To help build a continuum of care that meets people with mental health and substance use disorders where they are and connects them to the right level of treatment when they need it.
Through research, education, and collaboration, we identify gaps, strengthen legal and operational pathways, and improve access to appropriate treatment options.
Our Mission
5200 Research
When someone is in a mental health crisis and refusing help, families, caregivers and even first responders can often feel powerless. California law actually includes a little-known pathway to ask for a court-ordered mental health evaluation. This paper explains that law, why it matters, and why it is not being used.
Written for legislators, policymakers, mental health advocates, and anyone trying to understand why the system keeps failing the same people.
Featured recently in the Los Angeles Times, LAist AirTalk, The Steinberg Institute InFocus, and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
This analysis also informed the development of SB 1016 in 2026. The bill passed the Senate and advanced through the Assembly’s policy review before being held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee’s Suspense File amid concerns about potential county costs. Although the bill did not advance, the gap it sought to address remains unresolved.
See media coverage
Our Expertise
Quarter Turn Strategies is led by people with direct experience inside the systems we work to improve.
Ann Marie Council, JD, Chief Executive Officer, spent 25 years as a deputy city attorney for the City of San Diego. She developed the LIFT Program, a first of its kind initiative that brought together emergency medical services, law enforcement, and medical professionals to open legal pathways to treatment. A department review of the first 18 filed LIFT cases showed a reduction of more than 90 percent in associated 911 calls.
Wendy Moore, Chief Operating Officer, has spent more than two decades securing resources for first responders, including 15 years as Executive Director of the San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation.
Our Policy and Research Team includes clinicians, attorneys, researchers, and program leaders with experience in mental health policy, legal pathways to care, neurodevelopmental disorders, clinical assessment, and emergency response. Together, we contribute different professional perspectives to the organization’s research, education, and collaborative system improvement work.