MHAC Priority Legislation

MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Waldron

Date: 04/12/2024

This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to convene a workgroup to study and make recommendations on the establishment of a framework governing psychedelic-assisted therapy, as defined. The bill would require that workgroup to send a report to the Legislature containing those recommendations on or before January 1, 2026. The bill would, contingent upon the Legislature enacting a framework governing psychedelic-assisted therapy,  authorize the lawful use of hallucinogenic or psychedelic substances for psychedelic-assisted therapy.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Irwin

Date: 04/12/2024

This bill would revise the definition of “psychiatric emergency medical condition” to make that definition applicable regardless of whether the patient is voluntary, or is involuntarily detained for evaluation and treatment. treatment, under prescribed circumstances. The bill would make conforming changes to provisions requiring facilities to provide that treatment. The bill would require the Medi-Cal program to cover emergency services and care necessary to treat an emergency medical condition, as defined, including all professional physical, mental, and substance use treatment services, including screening examinations necessary to determine the presence or absence of an emergency medical condition and, if an emergency medical condition exists, for all services medically necessary to stabilize the beneficiary. The bill would require coverage, including by a Medi-Cal managed care plan, for emergency services necessary to relieve or eliminate a psychiatric emergency medical condition, regardless of duration, or whether the beneficiary is voluntary, or involuntarily detained for evaluation and treatment, including emergency room professional services. services, as specified.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Quirk-Silva

Date: 04/12/2024

This bill would authorize counties to also establish mental health multidisciplinary personnel team, as defined, with the goal of facilitating the expedited identification, assessment, and linkage of justice-involved persons diagnosed with a mental illness to supportive services within that county while incarcerated and upon release from county jail and to allow provider agencies and members of the personnel team to share confidential information, as specified, for the purpose of coordinating supportive services to ensure continuity of care. The bill would require the sharing of information permitted under these provisions to be governed by protocols developed in each county, as specified, and would require each county to provide a copy of its protocols to the State Department of Social Services. This bill would authorize the mental health multidisciplinary personnel team to designate qualified persons to be a member of the team for a particular case and would require every member who receives information or records regarding justice-involved persons, as defined, in their capacity as a member of the team to be under the same privacy and confidentiality obligations and subject to the same confidentiality penalties as the person disclosing or providing the information or records. The bill would also require the information or records to be maintained in a manner that ensures the maximum protection of privacy and confidentiality rights.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Pellerin

Date: 04/12/2024

Existing law requires the department to establish the California Child and Family Service Review System, in order to review all county child welfare systems, including child protective services, foster care, adoption, family preservation, family support, and independent living. Existing law requires the California Health and Human Services Agency to convene a workgroup, as prescribed, to establish a work plan by which child and family service reviews shall be conducted. Existing law requires the workgroup to consider, among other things, measurable outcome indicators, which shall be consistent with specified federal measures and standards. This bill would require the outcome indicators to include data from the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment tool.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Ward

Date: 04/12/2024

Existing law establishes the State Department of Education in state government, and vests the department with specified powers and duties relating to the state’s public school system, including encouraging and assisting school districts to improve and monitor the health of their pupils. Existing law requires the department, as part of that assistance, to provide information and guidance to schools that request the information and guidance to establish “Health Days” to provide screenings for common health problems among pupils.This bill would require the department to include county offices of education and charter schools in the above-described provisions. The bill would require the department to encourage school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to participate in programs that offer reimbursement for school-based health services and school-based mental health services, as provided.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Jackson

Date: 04/12/2024

This bill would, commencing July 1, 2025, establish, until June 30, 2028, the Black Mental Health Navigator Certification Pilot Program, to be administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, to provide comprehensive training in mental health resources and awareness, as specified. This bill would require the department to collect specific data and submit a report to the Legislature and the relevant policy committees on or before December 31, 2028. The bill would make those provisions contingent upon appropriation and would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2030.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Davies

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would require an operator of a licensed alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility or certified alcohol or other drug program to include a disclosure on its internet website if a legal, disciplinary, or other enforcement action has been brought by the department and the facility or program was determined to be in violation. The bill would require the internet website disclosure to include the date and nature of the violation. The bill would impose a $2,500 civil penalty for failure to comply with the internet website posting requirement.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Haney

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would authorize a nonprofit or free clinic to dispense a narcotic drug for the purpose of relieving acute withdrawal symptoms while arrangements are being made for referral for treatment, as described, and would require the clinic dispensing the narcotic to be subject to specified labeling and recordkeeping requirements. Because the bill would specify additional requirements under the Pharmacy Law, a violation of which would be a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Weber

Date: 04/18/2024

Existing law makes various references to the descriptive terms “persons with a mental health disorder,” “minors with a mental health condition,” and “children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance” in various provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code.This bill would make conforming changes to these provisions for consistency with those descriptor terms to, among other things, put the person first. The bill would also make other technical changes.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Berman

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would require a facility to which a person is brought for involuntary detention to provide a copy of the State Department of Health Care Services’ prepared patients’ rights handbook to a family member of the detained person, as specified. The bill would define “family member” for these purposes to include, among others, the spouse or domestic partner of the person and the parent or legal guardian of the person.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Dixon

Date: 04/18/2024

Existing law provides for the licensing and regulation of alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities, as defined, by the State Department of Health Care Services. This bill would make technical, non-substantive changes to a related provision.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Kalra

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill, the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act, would create the California Guaranteed Health Care for All program, or CalCare, to provide comprehensive universal single-payer health care coverage and a health care cost control system for the benefit of all residents of the state. The bill, among other things, would provide that CalCare cover a wide range of medical benefits and other services and would incorporate the health care benefits and standards of other existing federal and state provisions, including the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medi-Cal, ancillary health care or social services covered by regional centers for persons with developmental disabilities, Knox-Keene, and the federal Medicare program. The bill would make specified persons eligible to enroll as CalCare members during the implementation period, and would provide for automatic enrollment. The bill would require the board to seek all necessary waivers, approvals, and agreements to allow various existing federal health care payments to be paid to CalCare, which would then assume responsibility for all benefits and services previously paid for with those funds. This bill would create the CalCare Board to govern CalCare, made up of 9 voting members with demonstrated and acknowledged expertise in health care, and appointed as provided, plus the Secretary of California Health and Human Services or their designee as a nonvoting, ex officio member. The bill would provide the board with all the powers and duties necessary to establish CalCare, including determining when individuals may start enrolling into CalCare, employing necessary staff, negotiating pricing for covered pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, establishing a prescription drug formulary, and negotiating and entering into necessary contracts. The bill would require the board, on or before July 1 of an unspecified year, to conduct and deliver a fiscal analysis to determine whether or not CalCare may be implemented and if revenue is more likely than not to pay for program costs, as specified. The bill would establish an Advisory Commission on Long-Term Services and Supports to advise the board on matters of policy related to long-term services and supports. The bill would require the board to convene a CalCare Public Advisory Committee to advise the board on all matters of policy for CalCare, an Advisory Committee on Public Employees’ Retirement System Health Benefits to provide recommendations related to public employee retiree health benefits, and a CalCare Health Workforce Working Group to provide the board with input on issues related to health care workforce education, recruitment, and retention. The bill would establish an Office of Health Equity within CalCare and under the direction of the Director of the Department of Health Care Access and Information to ensure health equity under the program and other health programs of the California Health and Human Services Agency and to support the board through specified actions. This bill would provide for the participation of health care providers in CalCare, including the requirements of a participation agreement between a health care provider and the board, provide for payment for health care items and services, and specify program participation standards. The bill would prohibit a participating provider from discriminating against a person by, among other things, reducing or denying a person’s benefits under CalCare because of a specified characteristic, status, or condition of the person.This bill would prohibit a participating provider from billing or entering into a private contract with an individual eligible for CalCare benefits regarding a covered benefit, but would authorize contracting for a health care item or service that is not a covered benefit if specified criteria are met. The bill would authorize health care providers to collectively negotiate fee-for-service rates of payment for health care items and services using a 3rd-party representative, as provided. The bill would require the board to annually determine an institutional provider’s global budget, to be used to cover operating expenses related to covered health care items and services for that fiscal year, and would authorize payments under the global budget. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would develop a revenue plan, taking into consideration anticipated federal revenue available for CalCare. The bill would create the CalCare Trust Fund in the State Treasury, as a continuously appropriated fund, consisting of any federal and state moneys received for the purposes of the act. The bill would specify uses for moneys in the CalCare budget, including special projects for which not-for-profit or governmental entities may apply. Because the bill would create a continuously appropriated fund, it would make an appropriation. This bill would prohibit specified provisions of this act from becoming operative until the Secretary of California Health and Human Services gives written notice to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the Assembly that the CalCare Trust Fund has the revenues to fund the costs of implementing the act. The California Health and Human Services Agency would be required to publish a copy of the notice on its internet website. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Aguiar-Curry

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would  require, when a child or youth 18 years of age or younger changes residence from one county to another, the receiving county to provide specialty mental health services while the receiving county conducts its investigation and casework transfer process, if specified conditions are met, including, but not limited to, that the child or youth has been identified by the county of original residence as high risk or coming from a vulnerable population. The bill also would  require the State Department of Health Care Services and the State Department of Social Services to collaborate to create a system of standardized communication between counties that respects the procedures of the receiving county and the needs of the child that is without mental health services, and requiring the State Department of Social Services to establish care teams to help counties coordinate and expedite the transfer between counties. By increasing duties of counties administering the Medi-Cal program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Lowenthal

Date: 04/18/2024

Existing law generally provides for the placement of foster youth in various placement settings and governs the provision of child welfare services, as specified. Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of community care facilities, including community treatment facilities (CTFs) by the State Department of Social Services.Existing law requires the State Department of Health Care Services to adopt certain regulations for CTFs, including, among others, that only seriously emotionally disturbed children, as defined, either (1) for whom other less restrictive mental health interventions have been tried, as specified, or (2) who are currently placed in an acute psychiatric hospital or state hospital or in a facility outside the state for mental health treatment, and who may require periods of containment to participate in, and benefit from, mental health treatment, shall be placed in a CTF. This bill would make technical, non-substantive changes to these provisions.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Rendon

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would require the department to establish a Family Wellness Pilot Program under which regional centers shall provide counseling and peer support group services to the families of regional center consumers, as specified. The bill would require the department to evaluate the program and submit a report on the evaluation to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2029.

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