AB 1340

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, authorizes the involuntary commitment and treatment of persons with specified mental health disorders for the protection of the persons so committed. Under the act, if a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is a danger to others, or to themselves, or is gravely disabled, the person may, upon probable cause, be taken into custody by a peace officer, a member of the attending staff of an evaluation facility, designated members of a mobile crisis team, or another designated professional person, and placed in a facility designated by the county and approved by the State Department of Social Services as a facility for 72-hour treatment and evaluation. The act also authorizes a conservator of the person, of the estate, or of both, to be appointed for a person who is gravely disabled as a result of a mental health disorder. For these purposes, existing law defines "gravely disabled" to mean either a condition in which a person, as a result of a mental health disorder or chronic alcoholism, is unable to provide for the person's basic personal needs for food, clothing, or shelter, or a condition in which a person has been found mentally incompetent, as specified. This bill would expand the definition of "gravely disabled" for these purposes to also include a condition in which a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is unable to provide for their basic personal needs for medical treatment, as defined, if the failure to receive medical treatment is either for an existing life-threatening medical condition or the person is in imminent danger of physical injury or life-threatening medical condition and there is a substantial and imminent risk, in either instance, of either death or prolonged hospitalization. By expanding the definition of "gravely disabled" and thereby increasing the duties of local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill, on or before July 1, 2023, would require the State Department of State Hospitals to create a model discharge plan for counties and hospitals to follow when discharging those held under temporary holds or conservatorship. The bill would require county mental health departments to collaborate with facilities and hospitals to develop, implement, and adhere to an adequate discharge plan that ensures continuity of services and care in the community for all individuals exiting holds or conservatorship and to implement that plan across the entire network of acute and subacute facilities on or before February 1, 2024. The bill would require the county discharge plan to require that an individual exiting a temporary hold or a conservatorship be provided with a detailed treatment plan that includes a scheduled first appointment with their referred service provider. By placing additional duties on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would prohibit a county from discharging an individual from a hold unless the first followup appointment, made in conformance to the detailed treatment plan, is scheduled and the appointment information has been provided to the individual. The bill would also require a facility discharging a conservatee to establish a detailed treatment plan, schedule the first followup appointment, and provide the individual with the appointment information. The bill would require a service provider to whom a person released from hold or a conservatorship is referred for services to make a good faith effort to contact the referred individual no less than 3 times, either by email, telephone, mail, or in-person outreach. (2) Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, establishes the continuously appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county mental health programs. The MHSA also established the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to oversee the administration of various parts of the act. This bill, to the extent permitted under state and federal law and consistent with the Mental Health Services Act and for the purposes of the above-mentioned provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, would clarify that counties may pay for the services authorized in those provisions using funds from the Mental Health Services Fund when included in county plans, as specified, and would also authorize counties to pay for those services with specified funds from the Local Revenue Fund and the Local Revenue Fund 2011. The bill would require the State Department of Health Care Services to, on or before July 1, 2022, issue guidance specifying which services authorized under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act may be paid by counties with funds from the Mental Health Services Fund. This bill would require the commission to develop, implement, and oversee a public and comprehensive framework for tracking and reporting spending on mental health programs and services from all major fund sources and of program- and service-level and statewide outcome data, as specified. The bill would require counties to report to the commission its expenses in specific categories, including, but not limited to, inpatient care or intensive outpatient services, as well as their unspent funding from all major funding sources. By imposing new reporting requirements on counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) 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, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.