BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 585
Author: Steinberg (D) and Correa (D), et al.
Amended: 4/2/13
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 9-0, 4/24/13
AYES: Hernandez, Anderson, Beall, De León, DeSaulnier, Monning,
Nielsen, Pavley, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Mental health: Mental Health Services Fund
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill clarifies that state funding sources for
county mental health programs, including funds generated under
the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), can be expended to
support mental health treatment services provided under the
Assisted Outpatient Treatment Demonstration Project Act of 2002
(AOT Act, which is also known as "Laura's Law").
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Establishes MHSA which provides for local mental health
services, as specified.
2. Establishes the Mental Health Services Fund in the state
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Treasury, administered by the Department of Health Care
Services (DHCS), to fund specified county mental health
programs.
3. Establishes the Local Revenue Fund and the Local Revenue
Fund 2011, which contain specified accounts to fund county
mental health services.
4. Allows county Boards of Supervisors, by resolution, to
authorize the AOT Act whereby a county mental health director
can petition for a court to order a person over age 18 with a
mental illness to receive AOT if the court finds the
individual meets specified criteria.
5. Requires counties implementing the AOT Act to make a finding
that no voluntary mental health program serving adults, and
no children's mental health program, may be reduced as a
result of the implementation.
6. Requires a county that provides court-ordered AOT services
to also offer the same services on a voluntary basis.
7. Requires DHCS to submit a report and evaluation of all
counties implementing any component of the AOT Act to the
Governor and the Legislature by July 1, 2015.
8. Sunsets the AOT Act on January 1, 2017.
9. Establishes the Lanterman-Petris Short Act (LPS Act), which
authorizes a person to be involuntarily detained for
inpatient mental health treatment when, as a result of a
mental disorder, the person is a danger to him/herself or to
others, or is gravely disabled.
10.Authorizes a peace officer, member of the attending staff of
an evaluation facility designated by the county, designated
members of a mobile crisis team, or other professional person
designated by the county, upon probable cause, to take a
person with a mental disorder who is a danger to
himself/herself, a danger to others, or who is gravely
disabled, into custody and place him/her in a facility
designated by the county and approved by Department of Social
Services as a facility for 72-hour treatment and evaluation
(referred to as a 72-hour hold).
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This bill:
1. Clarifies that MHSA revenues distributed by the State
Controller to counties can be expended for mental health
treatment services provided under the AOT Act.
2. Requires a county to include provisions for the AOT Act in
its MHSA plan or annual update, if a county elects to
implement the AOT Act and use MHSA funds for implementation.
3. Specifies that, for mental health treatment services
provided under the AOT Act, counties may also use funds
distributed to them through various county realignment
accounts, as specified.
4. Specifies that mental health clients should be fully
informed and volunteer for all treatment provided under a
court order for the AOT Act and, prior to the filing of the
petition for the AOT Act, the client has been offered
voluntary treatment and has failed to engage in that
treatment.
Prior legislation
AB 1569 (Allen, Chapter 441, Statutes of 2012) extends the
sunset date of AOT Act from January 1, 2013, until January 1,
2017. Requires DHCS to submit a report and evaluation of all
counties implementing any component of the AOT Act to the
Governor and the Legislature by July 1, 2015.
AB 2134 (Chesbro, 2012) would have required a county that elects
to provide AOT services to develop best practices for the
purposes of responding to a mental health crisis, and would have
required these best practices to include the utilization of
crisis intervention teams, mobile crisis teams, or psychiatric
emergency response teams, with an emphasis on peer support.
This bill failed passage in the Senate Health Committee.
AB 2357 (Karnette and Yee, Chapter 774, Statutes of 2006)
extended the AOT Act sunset date to January 1, 2013, and
required the former DMH to submit a progress report to the
Governor and Legislature in 2011.
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AB 1421 (Thompson, Chapter 1017, Statutes of 2002) enacted the
AOT Act with a January 1, 2008 sunset date.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/7/13)
California Association of Psychiatric Technicians
California Mental Health Directors Association
California Psychiatric Association
Mental Illness Policy Org.
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Treatment Advocacy Center
Urban Counties Caucus
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Mental Health Directors
Association and the California Psychiatric Association (CPA)
write in support that they applaud the author for taking a stand
to settle this issue so that counties may act with assurance
that they can use all available mental health funds to support
an AOT program, including services provided under the AOT Act.
The CPA maintains that counties will benefit from wider
implementation of the AOT Act by having a tool in their
continuum of care with services to prevent crises before they
happen. The Urban Counties Caucus (UCC) writes that since the
creation of the AOT Act, many counties have considered adopting
this law in order to address the mental health needs of their
constituents, however, one of the major barriers to the adoption
has been the funding of this program. According to UCC, this
bill makes it clear that counties may use MHSA and other funding
to address these critical needs.
JL:d 5/8/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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