Ford

*977 Opinion

The Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS Act) 1 is intended to provide prompt, short-term, community-based intensive treatment, without stigma or loss of liberty, to individuals with mental disorders who are either dangerous or gravely disabled. (Conservatorship of Chambers (1977) 71 Cal.App.3d 277, 282 [ 139 Cal.Rptr. 357 ].) When involuntary intensive treatment is indicated, the LPS Act authorizes the detention of mentally disordered persons for a 72-hour treatment and evaluation. (§ 5150 et seq.) Thereafter, the patient may be certified for additional involuntary detentions. (§ 5250 et seq.)

The central issue in this appeal is whether a psychologist who releases an involuntarily hospitalized mental patient before the end of the 72-hour treatment and evaluation hold is exempt from civil liability when that patient thereafter injures another person. The trial court concluded that, although the operative statute restricts immunity to “the psychiatrist directly responsible for the person’s treatment,” a psychologist is also exempt. In reaching this result, the trial court relied on California Assn. of Psychology Providers v. Rank (1990) 51 Cal.3d 1 [ 270 Cal.Rptr. 796 ,…