California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 193


Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez and Mathis)

January 28, 2015


An act to amend Sections 5350.2, 5352, 5354, and 5360 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to conservatorships.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 193, as introduced, Maienschein. Mental health: conservatorship hearings.

Existing law provides a procedure for the appointment of a conservator for a person who is determined to be gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or an impairment by chronic alcoholism and requires an officer, including a county public guardian or a county mental health program, to conduct a conservatorship investigation and render a written report to the court of his or her investigation. Under existing law, a professional person in charge of an agency providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive treatment for a gravely disabled person may recommend a conservatorship for that person, and the agency is required to disclose any records or information that may facilitate an investigation. Existing law requires the officer providing conservatorship investigation, when he or she concurs with the recommendation of the professional person or facility, to petition the superior court in the patient’s county of residence for a conservatorship.

This bill would authorize the court, after a hearing attended by the proposed conservatee or the proposed conservatee’s counsel, or both, to recommend a conservatorship to the officer providing conservatorship investigation if the court in a conservatorship proceeding determines, based on the evidence presented to the court, including medical evidence, that a person for whom a conservatorship has been established may be gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or is incapable of accepting, treatment voluntarily. The bill would also require the court to appoint counsel to a proposed conservatee if he or she cannot afford counsel. The bill would require the officer providing conservatorship investigation to petition the superior court in the patient’s county of residence to establish conservatorship if he or she concurs with the recommendation of the court, and to file a copy of his or her report with the court within 30 days of the court’s recommendation. The bill would require an existing probate conservator, if conservatorship is recommended by the court, to disclose any records or information that may facilitate the investigation. The bill would also make conforming changes.

By expanding the duties of the county officer providing conservatorship investigation, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P2    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 5350.2 of the Welfare and Institutions
2Code
is amended to read:

3

5350.2.  

Reasonable attempts shall be made by the county
4mental health program to notify family membersbegin insert,end insert or any other
5person designated by the person for whom conservatorship is
6sought, of the time and place of the conservatorship hearing. The
7person for whom the conservatorship is sought shall be advised
8by the facility treating the personbegin insert, or by the probate court if the
9recommendation was made pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
105352,end insert
that he or she may request that information about the time
P3    1and place of the conservatorship hearing not be given to family
2membersbegin delete, in those circumstances whereend deletebegin insert ifend insert the proposed conservator
3is not a family member. The request shall be honored by the mental
4health program. Neither this section nor Section 5350 shall be
5interpreted to allow the proposed conservatee to request that any
6proposed conservator not be advised of the time and place of the
7conservatorship hearing.

8

SEC. 2.  

Section 5352 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
9amended to read:

10

5352.  

begin deleteWhen end deletebegin insert(a)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertIfend insertbegin insert end insertthe professional person in charge of an
11agency providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing
12intensive treatment determines that a person in hisbegin insert or herend insert care is
13gravely disabled as a result of mental disorder or impairment by
14chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or incapable of
15accepting, treatment voluntarily, hebegin insert or sheend insert may recommend
16conservatorship to the officer providing conservatorship
17investigation of thebegin insert person’send insert county of residencebegin delete of the person
18prior to his admissionend delete
begin insert before admitting the personend insert as a patient in
19begin delete suchend deletebegin insert theend insert facility.

begin delete

20The

end delete

21begin insert(b)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertThe end insertprofessional person in charge of an agency providing
22comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive
23treatment may recommend conservatorship for a person without
24the person being an inpatient inbegin delete such facility,end deletebegin insert the facilityend insert if both
25of the following conditions are met:begin delete (a) the professional person or
26another professional person designated by him has examined and
27evaluated the person and determined that he is gravely disabled;
28(b) the professional person or another professional person
29designated by him has determined that future examination on an
30inpatient basis is not necessary for a determination that the person
31is gravely disabled.end delete

begin insert

32(1) The professional person or another professional person
33designated by him or her has examined and evaluated the person
34and determined that the person is gravely disabled.

end insert
begin insert

35(2) The professional person or another professional person
36designated by him or her has determined that future examination
37on an inpatient basis is not necessary for a determination that the
38person is gravely disabled.

end insert
begin insert

39(c) (1) The court, after a hearing attended by both the proposed
40conservatee or the proposed conservatee’s counsel, or both, may
P4    1recommend a conservatorship under this chapter to the officer
2providing conservatorship investigation of the person’s county of
3residence if the court in a proceeding under the Probate Code
4determines based on evidence presented to the court, including
5medical evidence, that a person for whom a conservatorship has
6been established under the Probate Code may be gravely disabled
7as a result of a mental disorder or impairment by chronic
8alcoholism and is unwilling to accept or is incapable of accepting
9treatment voluntarily. If the proposed conservatee cannot afford
10counsel, the court shall appoint counsel for him or her.

end insert
begin insert

11(2) Within 30 days after the recommendation pursuant to
12paragraph (1), the officer providing conservatorship investigation
13shall file a copy of his or her report with the court making the
14recommendation in the probate conservatorship.

end insert
begin delete

15If

end delete

16begin insert(d)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertIfend insert the officer providing conservatorship investigation concurs
17with the recommendationbegin insert of the professional person, pursuant to
18subdivision (a) or (b), or the court, pursuant to subdivision (c)end insert
, he
19begin insert or sheend insert shall petition the superior court in thebegin insert patient’send insert county of
20residencebegin delete of the patientend delete to establish conservatorship.

begin delete

21Where

end delete

22begin insert(e)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertIfend insert temporary conservatorship is indicated,begin delete theend deletebegin insert thatend insert fact shall
23be alternatively pleaded in the petition. The officer providing
24conservatorship investigation or other county officer or employee
25designated by the county shall act as the temporary conservator.

26

SEC. 3.  

Section 5354 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
27amended to read:

28

5354.  

(a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
29shall investigate all available alternatives to conservatorship and
30shall recommend conservatorship to the court only if no suitable
31alternatives are available. This officer shall render to the court a
32written report of investigation prior to the hearing. The report to
33the court shall be comprehensive and shall contain all relevant
34aspects of the person’s medical, psychological, financial, family,
35vocational, and social condition, and information obtained from
36the person’s family members, close friends, social worker, or
37principal therapist. The report shall also contain all available
38information concerning the person’s real and personal property.
39The facilities providing intensive treatment or comprehensive
40evaluation shall disclose any records or informationbegin delete whichend deletebegin insert thatend insert
P5    1 may facilitate the investigation. If thebegin insert recommendation for
2conservatorship was made pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
35352, the existing probate conservator shall disclose any records
4or information that may facilitate the investigation. If theend insert
officer
5providing conservatorship investigation recommends against
6conservatorship, he or she shall set forth all alternatives available.
7A copy of the report shall be transmitted to the individual whobegin insert, or
8the court that,end insert
originally recommended conservatorship, to the
9 person or agency, if any, recommended to serve as conservator,
10and to the person recommended for conservatorship. The court
11may receive the report in evidence and may read and consider the
12contents thereof in rendering its judgment.

13(b) Notwithstanding Section 5328, when a court with jurisdiction
14over a person in a criminal case orders an evaluation of the person’s
15mental condition pursuant to Section 5200, and that evaluation
16leads to a conservatorship investigation, the officer providing the
17conservatorship investigation shall serve a copy of the report
18required under subdivision (a) upon the defendant or the
19defendant’s counsel. Upon the prior written request of the
20defendant or the defendant’s counsel, the officer providing the
21conservatorship investigation shall also submit a copy of the report
22to the court hearing the criminal case, the district attorney, and the
23county probation department. The conservatorship investigation
24report and the information contained in that report, shall be kept
25confidential and shall not be further disclosed to anyone without
26the prior written consent of the defendant. After disposition of the
27criminal case, the court shall place all copies of the report in a
28sealed file, except as follows:

29(1) The defendant and the defendant’s counsel may retain their
30copy.

31(2) If the defendant is placed on probation status, the county
32probation department may retain a copy of the report for the
33purpose of supervision of the defendant until the probation is
34terminated, at which time the probation department shall return
35its copy of the report to the court for placement into the sealed file.

36

SEC. 4.  

Section 5360 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
37amended to read:

38

5360.  

begin deleteThe end deletebegin insert(a)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertTheend insertbegin insert end insertofficer providing conservatorship
39investigation shall recommend, in hisbegin insert or herend insert report to the court,
40for or against imposition of a disability set forth in Section 5357
P6    1on the basis of the determination of the professional person who
2recommended conservatorship pursuant tobegin insert subdivision (a) or (b)
3of Section 5352, or the determination of the physician who
4presented medical evidence to the court pursuant to subdivision
5(c) ofend insert
Section 5352.

begin delete

6The

end delete

7begin insert(b)end insertbegin insertend insertbegin insertTheend insert officer providing conservatorship investigation shall
8recommend in hisbegin insert or herend insert report any of the additional powers of a
9conservator set forth in Section 2591 of the Probate Code if the
10needs of the individual patient or his estate require such powers.
11In makingbegin delete suchend deletebegin insert thisend insert determination, the officer providing
12 conservatorship investigation shall consult with the professional
13person who recommended conservatorship pursuant tobegin insert subdivision
14(a) or (b) of Section 5352, or the determination of the physician
15who presented medical evidence to the court pursuant to
16subdivision (c) ofend insert
Section 5352.

17

SEC. 5.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
18this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
19local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
20pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
214 of Title 2 of the Government Code.



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