BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        SB 585|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |1020 N Street, Suite 524          |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520         Fax: (916) |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           
                                           
                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  SB 585
          Author:   Steinberg (D) and Correa (D), et al.
          Amended:  5/13/13
          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").

           Senate Floor Amendments  of 5/13/13 add Senator Yee and  
          Assemblymember Mansoor as coauthors.  The amendments clarify  
          that the county board of supervisors may authorize, through the  
          county budget process, the use of Mental Health Services funds  
          for the AOT Act.

           ANALYSIS  :    

                                                                CONTINUED





                                                                     SB 585
                                                                     Page  
          2

          Existing law:

           1. Establishes MHSA which provides for local mental health  
             services, as specified.

           2. Establishes the Mental Health Services Fund in the state  
             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, 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 himself/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  

                                                                CONTINUED





                                                                     SB 585
                                                                     Page  
          3

             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).

          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.

                                                                CONTINUED





                                                                     SB 585
                                                                     Page  
          4


          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.

          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
          Nick and Amanda Wilcox
          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  5/15/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

                                                                CONTINUED





                                                                     SB 585
                                                                     Page  
          5


                                   ****  END  ****
          










































                                                                CONTINUED