MHAC Priority Legislation

MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Ramos

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would require, when jurisdiction of an inmate is transferred from or between a county correctional facility, a county medical facility, the State Department of State Hospitals, and a county agency caring for inmates, those agencies to disclose, by electronic transmission if possible, mental health records, as defined, regarding each transferred inmate who received mental health services while in custody of the transferring facility, as specified. The bill would require mental health records to be disclosed to ensure sufficient mental health history is available to ensure the continuity of mental health treatment of an inmate being transferred between those facilities.This bill would require all county behavioral health departments and contractors to establish and maintain a secure and standardized system for sharing inmate mental health records, as specified. The bill would require each county to prepare a report containing information about the effectiveness of the data sharing, the continuity of care measures, and an evaluation on the impact of inmate well-being, safety, and recidivism rates. The bill would require the report to be submitted to the Legislature on or before June 30, 2028. By imposing additional duties on local entities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require all transmissions made pursuant to these provisions to comply with specified provisions of state and federal law, including the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Low

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would authorize a licensee of a community care facility to approve an individual to care for children before the completion of another state’s child abuse and neglect registry check if certain specified conditions are met, including that the community care facility has submitted a request for the out-of-state abuse and neglect registry check to the department. The bill would require a licensee to remove an applicant from the community care facility  immediately upon receipt of information that would disqualify the applicant from approval and notify the department of the removal within 3 business days. By expanding the scope of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Wilson

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would enact the Interstate Counseling Compact (the Compact), the purpose of which is to facilitate interstate practice of licensed professional counselors, as specified. The Compact would come into effect on the date on which the Compact statute is enacted into law in the 10th “Member State,” defined as a state, commonwealth, district, or territory of the United States of America that has enacted the Compact. Under the Compact, a professional counselor licensed in a Member State would be authorized to practice professional counseling in any other Member State, as specified. The Compact would establish a joint public agency known as the Counseling Compact Commission, as a instrumentality of the Member States to administer the provisions of the Compact, as specified. The Compact would require the commission to provide for the development, maintenance, operation, and utilization of a coordinated database and reporting system containing licensure, adverse action, and investigative information on all licensed individuals in Member States. The Compact would impose certain requirements on Member States, including requiring licensees to pass a nationally recognized exam approved by the Commission, and submitting certain information regarding licensees to the data system.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Valencia

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would exempt an unlicensed home for persons recovering from alcoholism or drug abuse in a neighborhood zoned for residential use from being considered a residential use of property when specified evidence demonstrates that the facility is an integral part of a licensed drug treatment facility located elsewhere.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: McCarty

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that authorizes the County of Sacramento and the Cities of Sacramento, Rancho Cordova, Elk Grove, Citrus Heights, Folsom, Galt, and Isleton to create and operate a joint powers agency for the purpose of assisting the homeless population, coordinating homelessness response, and developing and managing a comprehensive strategic plan to address homelessness within the County of Sacramento.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Gabriel

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would require the state to survey and analyze the facilities in each county that can serve as an alternate destination facility. The bill would require a local emergency medical services agency to develop an alternate destination facility plan with protocols for transporting an individual to an alternate destination facility instead of an emergency department.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Curry

Date: 04/18/2024

Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, including federally qualified health center (FQHC) services and rural health clinic (RHC) services. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law requires the department to seek any necessary federal approvals and issue appropriate guidance to allow an FQHC or RHC to bill, under a supervising licensed behavioral health practitioner, for an encounter between an FQHC or RHC patient and an associate clinical social worker or associate marriage and family therapist when certain conditions are met, including, among others, that the FQHC or RHC is otherwise authorized to bill for services provided by the supervising practitioner as a separate visit. This bill would add a psychological associate to those provisions, requiring the department to seek any necessary federal approvals and issue appropriate guidance to allow an FQHC or RHC to bill for an encounter between a patient and a psychological associate under those conditions. The bill would make conforming changes with regard to supervision by a licensed psychologist as required by the Board of Psychology.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Santiago

Date: 04/18/2024

Existing law, the Bronzan-McCorquodale Act, governs the organization and financing of community mental health services for persons with mental health disorders in every county through locally administered and locally controlled community mental health programs. This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Lackey

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would prohibit a ward from being held in secure confinement beyond 25 years of age under those provisions.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Waldron

Date: 04/18/2024

Existing law imposes various functions and duties on the State Department of State Hospitals with respect to the administration of state institutions for the mentally disordered. Existing law authorizes the Director of State Hospitals to deposit funds of patients in trust, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the hospital administrator, with the consent of the patient, to deposit the interest or increment on the funds of the patient in the state hospital in a special fund for each state hospital, designated the “Benefit Fund,” and requires the hospital administrator to be the trustee of the fund. Existing law authorizes the hospital administrator, with the approval of the Director of State Hospitals, to expend moneys in the fund for the education or entertainment of the patients of the institution. Existing law requires that the hospital administrator take into consideration the recommendations of representatives from patient government before expending any moneys in the fund. Existing law authorizes the moneys in the fund to be expended for the education or entertainment of the patients of the institution. This bill would additionally authorize the funds to be expended for the welfare of the patients of the institution.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: McCarty

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would add a representative of a community-based organization with experience in successfully providing behavioral health treatment services to persons who have been convicted of a criminal offense, and a representative of a Medi-Cal managed care plan that provides the Enhanced Care Management benefit, to the membership of the Community Corrections Partnership. This bill would require the executive  committee of the CCP to consist of all 3 of the departments mentioned above and would require the department head to have the number of votes equivalent to the number of departments they represent. The bill would require the plan to, among other things, include quantifiable goals for improving the community corrections system. The bill would require the local partnership to submit the accepted plan annually to the Board of State and Community Corrections. This bill would require each county to submit the County Community Corrections Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency report annually to the Board of State and Community Corrections that includes, among other things, the number of people who have a serious mental illness or substance use disorder who are connected to community-based treatment and support upon release from jail or completion of community supervision. The bill would require each county’s board of supervisors to verify that the report is complete and accurate before it is submitted to the board. Because this bill would expand the duties for certain local officials, it would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the board to create the Community Corrections Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency dashboard that displays the county’s goals mentioned above and the spending and outcomes data reported in the County Community Corrections Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency report. The bill would require the dashboard to be accessible through the board’s internet website.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Boerner

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill proposes changes to Medi-Cal eligibility redetermination procedures, seeking to extend continuous eligibility to individuals over 19 years old with federal approval. The bill mandates various adjustments to the redetermination process, including enhanced communication efforts by counties, acceptance of self-attested income information, and entitlement to Medi-Cal eligibility determination. Additionally, the bill requires counties to collect call-center data metrics, sets a target rate for successful ex parte renewals, and aims to make permanent temporary eligibility rules implemented during the COVID-19 Unwinding Period.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Jackson

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to access to mental health care.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Bonta

Date: 04/18/2024

Existing law allows for patients to submit complaints to the department regarding health facilities. Existing law also requires the department to establish a centralized consumer response unit within the Licensing and Certification Division of the department to respond to consumer inquiries and complaints.This bill would require the department to include a section for complaints involving specified health facilities to collect information about outlined demographic factors of affected patients. The bill would require the department to include a section on the Complaint Against a Health Care Facility/Provider form on the department’s internet website, and provide means for complaints submitted via mail, fax, or by telephone, for complaints involving specified health facilities. The bill would require the department to inform complainants that the information collected is voluntary, is to ensure patients receive the best care possible, and will not affect the department’s investigation. The bill would require that complainants shall be provided the option to refer the complaint to the Civil Rights Department, and the department will provide the complaint to the Civil Rights Department only when requested to do so by the complainant. The bill would require the department to develop an outreach program to provide patients, consumers, and members of the public with specified information regarding the complaint process.   Existing law requires a health facility to develop, implement, and comply with a patient safety plan to improve the health and safety of patients and to reduce preventable patient safety events. The patient safety plan requires specified elements, including, but not limited to, a reporting system for patient safety events that allows anyone involved to make a report of a patient safety event to the health facility, and a process for a team of facility staff to conduct analyses related to root causes of patient safety events. This bill would require the reporting system to include anonymous reporting options. The bill would also require analysis of patient safety events by sociodemographic factors to identify disparities in these events. The bill would require that the safety plan include a process for addressing racism and discrimination and its impacts on patient health and safety, including monitoring sociodemographic disparities in patient safety events and developing interventions to remedy known disparities, and encouraging facility staff to report suspected instances of racism and discrimination. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2026, and biannually thereafter, that health facilities submit patient safety plans to the department’s licensing and certification division. The bill would authorize the department to impose a fine not to exceed $5,000 on health facilities for failure to adopt, update, or submit patient safety plans, and would authorize the department to grant an automatic 60-day extension to submit biannual patient safety plans. The bill would require the department to make all patient safety plans submitted by health facilities available to the public on its internet website. Existing law requires the department to provide information regarding reports of substantiated adverse events and the outcomes of those investigations on the department’s internet website and in written form that is readily accessible to consumers and protects patient confidentiality.This bill would require the department to engage stakeholders to provide input on the usability and accessibility of the information available to stakeholders, including consumers. The bill would require the department to compile and make available to the Department of Civil Rights and the Department of Justice data regarding substantiated adverse events and the outcomes of inspections and investigations conducted as a result of an adverse event.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Wilson

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorize the superior courts in the Counties of Sacramento, San Diego, Contra Costa, and Solano to conduct a pilot program to provide specific supportive services to adult defendants who participate in the county’s drug court, as specified. The bill would require the Judicial Council to administer the program and would authorize the council to establish guidelines and reporting requirements for the participating drug courts. This bill would require a participating drug court to enroll eligible defendants in specific supportive services unless a defendant refuses or is already enrolled in those services. The bill would require a county probation department or another county department designated by the court, to administer the supportive services payments and reimbursements. By increasing the duties of county agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.This bill would require participating drug courts to collect and submit specific data to the Judicial Council. The bill would also require the Judicial Council to prepare and submit a report to the Legislature and the Governor on or before January 1, 2028, that compares the data gathered by the participating drug courts to other similar, nonparticipating drug courts, as specified.The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2029.

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