MHAC Priority Legislation

MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Blakespear

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill, by January 1, 2030, would require each city and county to provide housing opportunities, as defined, for homeless individuals within its jurisdiction, based on their most recent point-in-time count. The bill would require each city and county to develop a housing obligation plan that describes how the city or county plans to increase housing opportunities in its jurisdiction so that it can offer at least one housing opportunity to each homeless individual, as specified. In this regard, the bill would require a housing obligation plan to include, among other things, goals and plans to fulfill the city or county’s housing obligation, including specific projects and completion timelines, and the city or county’s progress in reducing the number of homeless individuals in its jurisdiction. The bill would require a housing obligation plan to identify steps taken by the city or county to consult with other jurisdictions to ensure that the plan is consistent with regional homelessness planning efforts. The bill would require a city or county to submit its housing obligation plan to the Department of Housing and Community Development for review and post the plan to its internet website by January 1, 2025. The bill would require a city or county to update its housing obligation plan on or before January 1 of each subsequent year.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Umberg

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would, upon appropriation, establish the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Scholarship Program. The bill would require the department to administer the annual scholarship for purposes of increasing the number of culturally competent licensed marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, professional clinical counselors, and psychologists, as specified. The bill would require scholarship recipients to agree to work for county behavioral health agencies in meeting its needs and obligations to implement the CARE Act for a minimum of 3 years upon being licensed to practice in this state. The bill would require the department to post information related to the scholarship on its internet website.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Caballero

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would, upon an appropriation by the Legislature for this express purpose, require the California Department of Housing and Community Development, commencing January 1, 2024, to begin developing the Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities Housing Stability Program. The bill would require the department, in administering the program, to offer competitive grants to nonprofit community-based organizations, continuums of care, public housing authorities, and area agencies on aging, as specified, to administer a housing subsidy program for older adults and adults with disabilities who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, as defined.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Wiener

Date: 11/30/2022

Status: Vetoed

Controlled substances: overdose prevention program: This bill would create a pilot program for the City and County of San Francisco, the County of Los Angeles, the City of Los Angeles, and the City of Oakland to approve entities to operate overdose prevention programs that satisfy specified requirements including providing a hygienic space supervised by trained staff where people who use drugs can consume pre- obtained drugs, providing sterile consumption supplies, providing access or referrals to substance use disorder treatment, and that staff is authorized and trained to provide an opioid antagonist.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Wiener

Date: 09/27/2022

Status: Passed

Health Care Coverage: Timely access to care: This bill would require a health care service plan or health insurer to incorporate timely access to care standards into its quality assurance systems and incorporate specified processes. The bill would authorize the Department of Managed Health Care to develop methodologies to demonstrate appointment wait time compliance and averages. The bill would authorize DMHC and the Department of Insurance to take compliance or disciplinary action, review and adopt standards concerning the availability of health care to ensure enrollees and insureds have timely access to care and make recommendations to the Legislature if DMHC or DOI finds that health care service plans or health insurers and providers have difficulty meeting the standards the departments develop.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Stern

Date: 04/26/2021

Status: Died

LPS Act: hearings: This bill would allow a family member, friend, or acquaintance with personal knowledge of the person receiving treatment to make a request to testify in the judicial review proceedings under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Jones

Date: 09/29/2022

Status: Passed

Foster youth: Psychotropic Medication: This bill would require the State Department of Social Services to create an electronic health care portal, or use an existing portal, that will provide health care providers with access to the health information of a child in foster care that is included in the health and education summary and the completed and approved court forms for the administration of psychotropic medication. The foster care public health nurse would be required to update the electronic health care portal, and require the public health nurse to provide the child’s medical, dental, and mental health care information to health care providers, the child or their caregiver, and nonminor dependents as specified.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Roth

Date: 03/10/2021

Status: Died

Medi-Cal managed care: behavioral health services: This bill would require DHCS to make incentive payments to qualifying Medi-Cal managed care plans that meet predefined goals and metrics associated with targeted interventions, rendered by school-affiliated behavioral health providers, that increase access to preventive, early intervention, and behavioral health services for children enrolled in K-12.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Glazer

Date: 04/22/2024

This bill would additionally require a referral agency to obtain a license from the State Department of Social Services in order to refer a person to a residential care facility for the elderly. The bill would prohibit an extended care facility, skilled nursing home, intermediate care facility, or residential care facility for the elderly from paying a commission or fee to a referral agency that is not licensed, as specified. The bill would prohibit a referral agency from holding any power of attorney or any other property of a person receiving referral services, or to receive or hold a client’s property in any capacity. With respect to a residential care facility for the elderly, the bill would require a referral agency to disclose specified information to each person receiving its services, and to maintain records of those disclosures for a period of 3 years, as specified. The bill would specify that a referral agency licensee would be subject to specified provisions relating to placement agencies for residential care facilities for the elderly. By expanding the definition of a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would also require referral agencies to maintain liability insurance in specified amounts. The bill would also make it unlawful for an employee, independent contractor, or other person who is acting on behalf of a governmental agency, hospital, or other health care institution to offer, provide, or accept a payment, rebate, refund, commission, preference, or discount as payment, compensation, or inducement for referring patients, clients, or customers to a facility or licensee.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Hertzberg

Date: 09/29/2022

Status: Passed

Prisons: California Rehabilitation Oversight Board: Existing law requires the California Rehabilitation Oversight Board in the Office of the Inspector General to regularly examine the various mental health, substance abuse, educational, and employment programs for incarcerated persons and parolees under the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. This bill would additionally require the board to examine the department’s efforts to address the housing needs of incarcerated persons, including those with serious mental health needs, who are released to the community.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Umberg

Date: 04/22/2024

This bill would instead require that treatment court programs be designed and operated in accordance with the “Adult Treatment Court Best Practice Standards” developed by All Rise. The bill would revise the key components to be included in treatment court programs, including requiring a system of incentives, sanctions, and service adjustments to achieve participant success. The bill would require the Judicial Council, no later than January 1, 2026, to revise the standards of judicial administration to reflect state and nationally recognized best practices and guidelines for collaborative programs including those described in these provisions.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Eggman

Date: 09/25/2022

Status: Passed

Community mental health services: Data Collection: Existing law requires DHCS to collect and publish annually: the number of people admitted for 72 hour holds, 14- and 30-day periods of intensive treatment, and 180-day postcertification intensive treatment, the number of individuals transferred to mental health facilities, and the number of people for whom conservatorships are established. This bill would require DHCS to also collect and publish annually quantitative information relating to, among other things, clinical outcomes for individuals placed in each type of hold, services provided in each category, waiting periods, and needs for treatment beds.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Pan

Date: 11/30/2022

Status: Died

Prescription drug pricing: This bill would prohibit a pharmacy benefit manager from discriminating against a covered entity or its pharmacy in connection with dispensing a drug subject to federal pricing requirements or preventing a covered entity from retaining the benefit of discounted pricing for those drugs. The bill would prohibit a drug manufacturer that is subject to federal pricing requirements from imposing preconditions, limitations, delays or other barriers to the purchase of covered drugs.

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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: 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