BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1470
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( Without Reference to File )
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1470 (Budget Committee)
As Amended June 13, 2012
Majority vote. Budget Bill Appropriation Takes Effect Immediately
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(March 22, |SENATE: |25-14|(June 15, |
| | |2012) | | |2012) |
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(vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: BUDGET
SUMMARY : Contains necessary statutory changes to achieve savings
assumed in the 2012 Budget Act for the Department of Mental Health.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill, and
instead:
1)Change, in order to eliminate the Department of Mental Health and
create the Department of State Hospitals, the name "Department of
Mental Health" to "Department of State Hospitals" in approximately
200 sections of law, throughout the Business and Professions Code,
Health and Safety Code, Penal Code, and the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
2)Authorize, based on a pilot program in San Bernardino county,
which provides treatment in county jails to individuals, deemed
incompetent to stand trial, the Department of State Hospitals to
contract with any county to provide treatment in county jails.
This treatment is intended to restore competency in order for the
defendant to stand trial. Requires a community program director
or designee to evaluate the appropriate placement for a defendant,
between a state hospital or a local county jail treatment
facility, and if a county jail is selected, requires the
Department of State Hospitals to provide treatment in the county
jail and reimburse the county for the reasonable costs of the bed
during the treatment.
3)Establish, in order to ensure counties cover the full cost of
civil commitments to the state hospitals, in the absence, or
delay, of a signed contract between the state and county, that if
a county has not contracted with the Department of State Hospitals
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by July 1 of any given fiscal year, each monthly reimbursement
shall be equal to one-twelfth of the number of beds provided to
the county the previous fiscal year multiplied by the current
state rate as determined by the department, thereby enabling the
state to recoup the full cost of Lanterman-Petris Short Act civil
commitments.
4)Establish the Legislature's intent that:
a) Any changes in staffing ratios at the state's mental
hospitals address adequate staff and patient safety standards,
and that staffing ratios may vary based on patient acuity; and,
b) Adult education in the state hospitals is not to be
eliminated or substantially reduced.
5)Add the Director of the Department of Health Care Services as a
member of the Council on Mentally Ill Offenders within the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
6)Remove a limit of six years for specified beds at Coalinga State
Hospitals for which licensing requirements are suspended,
specifically for individuals for which there is probable cause of
a determination of "sexually violent predator." These individuals
refuse treatment and evaluation, and therefore the licensing
requirements for treatment staff should not apply. Moreover, this
population is likely to remain at Coalinga State Hospital
indefinitely.
7)Repeal various sections or provisions of law that contain obsolete
or completed requirements on the Department of Mental Health,
including:
a) Health and Safety Code Section 1316.5(f) which requires the
Departments of Mental Health, Developmental Services, and
Corrections to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2006, on
the impact of medical staff membership and privileges for
clinical psychologists on quality of care and
cost-effectiveness within state-owned and operated facilities;
b) Penal Code Section 1369.1(b), which requires the Department
of Mental Health to report to the Legislature by January 1,
2009, on various pieces of information related to defendants
who are incompetent to stand trial;
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c) Welfare and Institutions Code Section 4015(f), which
requires the Department of Mental Health to submit a status
update to the Legislature by January 31, 2004, on the
implementation of this section that requires the department to
work with other state entities to complete inventories of
materials and records related to persons who died while
residing at any state hospital;
d) Welfare and Institutions Code Section 4107(d)(e) which
requires the Department of Corrections and the Department of
Mental Health to jointly develop a plan for ensuring security
at Patton State Hospital during construction of, and occupation
of, additional beds for which funding was provided in the
Budget Act of 2001;
e) Welfare and Institutions Code Section 4112(b) which requires
the Department of Mental Health to report to the Legislature
when General Fund expenditures exceed Medicare proceeds and
related information. This is an outdated requirement as
General Fund expenditures always exceed Medicare proceeds;
f) Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5328.35 which requires
the Department of Mental Health to develop procedures no later
than 30 days after the effective date of the Budget Act of 1998
to notify the Legislature, law enforcement and local government
officials of a patient escape. The procedures were developed
and are in place;
g) Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5587, which places
requirements on the Metropolitan State Hospital Youth Program,
a program that no longer exists;
h) Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 7200.05 and 7200.07
which contain limits on the number of Penal Code patients at
Metropolitan or Napa State Hospitals, specifically for fiscal
year 1996-97 or 1998-99; and,
i) Welfare and Institutions Code Section 7275.1, which contains
requirements related to "mentally disordered minor children" in
state hospitals; there are no longer children in state
hospitals.
8)Add an appropriation allowing this bill to take effect immediately
upon enactment.
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AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill expressed the intent of the
Legislature to enact statutory changes relating to the Budget Act of
2012.
Analysis Prepared by : Andrea Margolis / BUDGET / (916) 319-2099
FN: 0004089