MHAC Priority Legislation

MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Wiener

Date: 08/24/2022

Status: Vetoed

Behavioral health: Workforce: This bill would repeal the sections of current law which requires DHCS to establish statewide requirements for counties to use in developing programs for the certification of peer support specialists. This bill would also repeal the code sections authorizing counties to develop peer support specialist programs and instead would require DHCS, by 7/1/2023 to provide for statewide certification of peer support specialists. The bill would require California Community Colleges, the California State University, and if approved by the regents, the University of California to develop two accelerated programs of study related to degrees in social work. This bill would establish the Behavioral Health Workforce Preservation and Restoration Fund in the state treasury to stabilize the current licensed clinical behavioral health workforce by providing hiring or performance-based bonuses, salary augmentation, overtime pay, or hazard pay to licensed behavioral health professionals. The bill would also require the Department of Health Care Access to create a stipend fund for students pursuing a Masters in Social Work Degree.

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Related Documents

• Bill Fact Sheet
• Sample Support Letter

MHAC Position: Oppose

Author: Eggman

Date: 11/30/2022

Status: Died

Conservatorships: gravely disabled persons: Existing law, the LPS Act, authorizes a conservator to be appointed for a person who is gravely disabled as a result of a mental health disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism.. Existing law requires the officer providing the conservatorship investigation to investigate all available alternatives to conservatorship and to recommend conservatorship to the court only if no suitable alternatives are available. Existing law requires the officer to render to the court a written report of the investigation prior to the hearing. This report must be comprehensive and must contain all relevant aspects of the person’s medical, psychological, financial, family, vocational, and social condition, and information obtained from the person’s family members, close friends, social worker, or principal therapist. Existing law states that the court may receive the report in evidence and may read and consider the contents of the report. This bill requires the court to both receive the report into evidence and to consider the contents of the report in rendering its judgment. This bill also requires the officer to include in the report information about the historical course of the person’s mental disorder and adherence to prior treatment plans if the officer determines that this information has

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Eggman

Date: 08/23/2022

Status: Died

Notes: Feb 2022: Oppose May 2022: Moved to Watch due to amendments

MHSA: accountability and planning: This bill would amend the Mental Health Services Act to require counties to submit 5-year program and expenditure plans (currently required every 3 years) and annual updates. This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency, by July 1, 2024, to establish the California MHSA Outcomes and Accountability Review (MHSA-OAR), consisting of performance indicators, county self-assessments, and county MHSA improvement plans, to facilitate a local accountability system that fosters continuous quality improvement in county programs funded by the MHSA and in the collection and dissemination by the department of best practices in service delivery. The bill would require HHS to convene a workgroup to establish a workplan by which the MHSA-OAR shall be conducted. The bill would require counties to execute and fulfill components of its MHSA system improvement plan that can be accomplished with existing resources. The bill would require HHS to report to the Legislature annually a summary of county performance on the established process and outcome measures, analysis of county performance trends over time, and makes recommendations for common MHSA services improvements identified. Amended to also eliminate the requirement in the MHSA that 20% of MHSA funds must be used for PEI, and eliminate the requirement that 5% of funds must be used for INN beginning with the 2024-2025 fiscal year.

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Related Documents

• Bill Fact Sheet

MHAC Position: Support

Author: Gonzalez

Date: 09/30/2022

Status: Passed

Medi-Cal managed care plans: Outreach and education: This bill would require a Medi-Cal managed care plan to conduct annual outreach and education to its enrollees regarding the mental health benefits that are covered by the plan, and also to develop annual outreach and education to inform primary care physicians regarding those mental health benefits. The bill would require that the outreach and education efforts be informed by stakeholder engagement and the plan’s population needs assessment, and that the efforts meet cultural and linguistic appropriateness standards and incorporate best practices in stigma reduction. The bill would require DHCS to review and approve annual outreach and education efforts, and to consult with stakeholders to develop the standards for the review and approval. The bill would require DHCS to publish annual reports on its internet website on consumer experience with mental health benefits covered by Medi-Cal managed care plans. The bill would require the department to publish annual reports on its internet website on consumer experience with mental health benefits covered by Medi-Cal managed care plans. The bill would require the reports to include plan-by-plan data, provide granularity for subpopulations, address inequities based on key demographic factors, and provide recommendations.

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MHAC Position: Oppose

Author: Roth

Date: 09/01/2022

Status: Vetoed

Acute Care Psychiatric Hospital Loan Fund. This bill would establish the California Acute Care Psychiatric Hospital Loan Fund to provide zero interest loans, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to qualifying county or city and county applicants for the purpose of building or renovating acute care psychiatric hospitals or psychiatric units in general acute care hospitals, as defined.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Eggman

Date: 05/19/2022

Status: Died

Facilities for mental health or SUD crisis: database: This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to develop a real-time internet-based database to collect and display information about beds in inpatient psychiatric facilities, crisis stabilization units, residential community mental health facilities, and licensed residential alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities in order to facilitate the identification and designation of facilities for the temporary treatment of individuals in mental health or substance use disorder crisis.

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MHAC Position: Oppose

Author: Eggman

Date: 09/27/2022

Status: Passed

Involuntary commitment: intensive treatment: Under existing law, the LPS Act, when a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is determined to be a danger to themself or others, or is determined to be gravely disabled, that person may, upon probable cause, be taken into custody and placed in a facility for up to 72 hours for evaluation and treatment. Under existing law, if a person is detained for 72 hours under those provisions, and has received an evaluation, the person may be certified for not more than 14 days of intensive treatment. Existing law further authorizes a person to be certified for an additional period of not more than 30 days of intensive treatment if the person remains gravely disabled and is unwilling or unable to accept treatment voluntarily. Existing law requires the person to be released at the end of the 30 days, except under certain circumstances including: 1. The person agrees to receive further treatment on a voluntary basis; 2. the person is the subject of a conservatorship petition; 3. the person is the subject of a petition for post certification treatment of a dangerous person filed pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 5300). This bill would authorize an additional 30-day treatment period if the person is still in need of intensive treatment and the certification for the additional 30-day treatment period has begun.

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MHAC Position: Support

Author: McGuire

Date: 11/30/2022

Status: Died

Mental health workforce grants: This bill would require the department of Health Care Access and Information, in collaboration with the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to establish a grant program to increase the number of mental health professionals serving children and youth. The bill would require the department to award up to 10,000 grants to postgraduate students over a 3-year period in amounts of up to $25,000 each. The bill would prescribe eligibility requirements for the grants, including that the student be enrolled on or after Jan. 1, 2022 in a California postgraduate program at an accredited school or department of social work or enrolled in a specified master’s or doctoral degree postgraduate program. The bill would require the student to make specified commitments, including a commitment to work with an eligible California-based nonprofit entity or a local educational agency for specified required supervised experience hours and a commitment that, upon completion of the postgraduate program, the student satisfies the requirements to become a registered associate clinical social worker, associate professional clinical counselor, or an associate MFT.

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MHAC Position: Oppose

Author: Portantino

Date: 09/02/2022

Notes: Watch *MHAC’s position changed to OPPOSE after amendments

Pupil Wellness Centers Grant Program: Would appropriate $1 billion from an unspecified fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide annual grants of up to $250,000 each to certain local educational agencies serving high school pupils to establish or improve pupil wellness centers to provide comprehensive medical and behavioral health services. Amended 8/15/22 to authorize $250,000,000 of MHSA funds to the State Controller to distribute to the Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide the grants.

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MHAC Position: Oppose

Author: Umberg

Date: 09/14/2022

Status: Passed

Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program: This bill would enact the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, which would authorize specific people to petition a civil court to create a CARE plan and implement services to be provided by county behavioral health agencies, to provide behavioral health care, stabilization medication, and housing support to adults who have schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorders and who lack medical decision-making capacity.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Durazo

Date: 11/30/2022

Status: Died

California Youth Apprenticeship Program: This bill would create the California Youth Apprenticeship Program, administered by the Office of the California Youth Apprenticeship Program for the purposes of awarding grant funding to eligible applicants to develop new apprenticeship programs or expand existing apprenticeship programs to serve the target population. The target population includes individuals aged 16 to 24 years who are unhoused, in the child welfare or juvenile justice system or criminal justice system, living in concentrated poverty, or are facing barriers to labor market participation. Grant funds may be used for purposes that include, but are not limited to: a) instruction and training of apprentices; b) costs related to setting up the program; c) project and case management; d) related instruction costs; e) education or training equipment; f) mental health services, trauma-informed care, and wraparound support services, including child or dependent care.

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MHAC Position: Oppose

Author: Eggman

Date: 06/15/2022

Status: Died

Mental health services: Gravely disabled: This bill would include under the definition of “gravely disabled” a condition in which a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is unable to provide for the basic personal needs of personal or medical care or self-protection and safety.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Ochoa Bogh

Date: 06/21/2022

Status: Died

Homeless and Mental Health Court and Transitioning Home Grant Programs: This bill would establish two new grant programs administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections: 1) the Homeless and Mental Health Court Grant program, which would (subject to appropriation) provide grants to counties for the purpose of establishing or expanding homeless courts and mental health courts; and 2) the Transitioning Home Grant Program that would (subject to appropriation) provide grants to county sheriffs and jail administrators to fund programs aimed at reducing homelessness among people released from custody.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Stern

Date: 11/30/2022

Status: Vetoed

Mental health guaranteed rights: Would add a provision to Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code to read: Part 8. Mental Health Care Guaranteed Rights to Treatment, Housing, and Other Services 5980. Any person that lacks supportive housing and behavioral health care and it otherwise not living safely in the community has a right to mental health care services, housing that heals, and access to a full- service partnership model, including access to treatment beds and a recovery facilitator that shall navigate access to appropriate resources for the person.

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Related Documents

• Bill Fact Sheet