Steve Bennett
- Democratic
- Assemblymember
- District 38
Author
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services (department) , under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Under existing law, specialty mental health services include federal Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) services provided to eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries under 21 years of age. Existing law requires each local mental health plan to establish a procedure to ensure access to outpatient specialty mental health services, as required by the EPSDT program standards, for youth in foster care who have been placed outside their county of adjudication, as described. Existing law requires the department to issue policy guidance concerning the conditions for, and exceptions to, presumptive transfer of responsibility for providing or arranging for specialty mental health services to a foster youth from the county of original jurisdiction to the county in which the foster youth resides, as prescribed. Under this bill, commencing July 1, 2023, in the case of placement of foster children in short-term residential therapeutic programs, community treatment facilities, or group homes, or in the case of admission of foster children to children's crisis residential programs, the presumptive transfer provisions would apply only if certain circumstances exist. These circumstances would include (1) that the case plan for the foster child specifies that the child will transition to a less restrictive placement in the same county as the facility in which the child has been placed, or (2) that the placing agency determines, as specified, that the child will be negatively impacted if responsibility for providing or arranging for specialty mental health services is not transferred to the same county as the facility in which the child has been placed. The bill would impose various notification and documentation requirements on the placing agency. By creating new duties for county agencies with regard to processing requests for presumptive transfer, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the department and the State Department of Social Services to adopt regulations by July 1, 2027, to implement these provisions, as specified, and would authorize those departments to implement the provisions through county letters, information notices, or similar written instructions until regulations are adopted. The bill would condition implementation of these provisions on the availability of federal financial participation and receipt of all necessary federal approvals. The bill would require the department to make a request for any necessary federal approvals no later than July 1, 2024. In cases of no transfer of responsibility for the foster child's specialty mental health services, the bill would authorize the mental health plan in the county of original jurisdiction and the specialty mental health services provider to utilize an existing contract or to establish one, in order to ensure timely payment for the services provided to the foster child, as specified, or else payment for the services would be made by the mental health plan in the county of original jurisdiction or through an agreement between the mental health plans in the 2 counties. The bill would require the department and the State Department of Social Services to collect data on the receipt of specialty mental health services by foster children who are placed outside of their county of original jurisdiction. The bill would require the inclusion of these data in the department's Medi-Cal specialty mental health services performance dashboard, as specified. The bill would define "foster children" for purposes of the above-described provisions to mean Medi-Cal eligible children younger than 21 years of age who have been placed into foster care by a county child welfare agency or a county probation department. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Approved by the Governor.
Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 402, Statutes of 2022.
Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0.).
In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 5368.).
Ordered to special consent calendar.
Ordered to second reading.
Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading.
From inactive file.
Ordered to inactive file at the request of Senator Hertzberg.
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 26).
Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (July 6). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HUMAN S. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (June 23). Re-referred to Com. on HUMAN S.
In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 1679.)
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (May 20).
In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (April 20). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH. Read second time and amended.
From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on HEALTH with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 8. Noes 0.) (April 7). Re-referred to Com. on HEALTH.
From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on HUM. S. Read second time and amended.
From printer. May be heard in committee March 21.
Read first time. To print.
| Bill Text Versions | Format |
|---|---|
| AB1051 | HTML |
| 02/18/21 - Introduced | |
| 03/30/21 - Amended Assembly | |
| 04/12/21 - Amended Assembly | |
| 08/26/21 - Amended Senate | |
| 08/25/22 - Amended Senate | |
| 09/02/22 - Enrolled | |
| 09/18/22 - Chaptered |
| Document | Format |
|---|---|
| 04/06/21- Assembly Human Services | |
| 04/16/21- Assembly Health | |
| 05/11/21- Assembly Appropriations | |
| 05/24/21- ASSEMBLY FLOOR ANALYSIS | |
| 06/21/21- Senate Health | |
| 07/02/21- Senate Human Services | |
| 08/13/21- Senate Appropriations | |
| 08/26/21- Senate Appropriations | |
| 08/31/21- Sen. Floor Analyses | |
| 08/26/22- Sen. Floor Analyses | |
| 08/31/22- ASSEMBLY FLOOR ANALYSIS |
Data on Open States is updated periodically throughout the day from the official website of the California State Legislature.
If you notice any inconsistencies with these official sources, feel free to file an issue.