AB 193, as amended, 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 consultation with a physician providing comprehensive evaluation or intensive treatment, 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 thebegin delete court within 30 days of the court’s recommendation.end deletebegin insert court.end insert 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:
Section 5350.2 of the Welfare and Institutions
2Code is amended to read:
Reasonable attempts shall be made by the county
4mental health program to notify family members, or any other
5person designated by the person for whom conservatorship is
P3 1sought, of the time and place of the conservatorship hearing. The
2person for whom the conservatorship is sought shall be advised
3by the facility treating the person, or by the probate court if the
4recommendation was made pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
55352, that he or she may request that information about the time
6and place of the conservatorship hearing not be given to family
7members if the proposed conservator is not a family member. The
8request shall be honored by the mental health program. Neither
9this section nor Section 5350 shall be interpreted to
allow the
10proposed conservatee to request that any proposed conservator not
11be advised of the time and place of the conservatorship hearing.
Section 5352 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
13amended to read:
(a) If the professional person in charge of an agency
15providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing
16intensive treatment determines that a person in his or her care is
17gravely disabled as a result of mental disorder or impairment by
18chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or incapable of
19accepting, treatment voluntarily, he or she may recommend
20conservatorship to the officer providing conservatorship
21investigation of the person’s county of residence before admitting
22the person as a patient in the facility.
23(b) The professional person in charge of an agency providing
24comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive
25
treatment may recommend conservatorship for a person without
26the person being an inpatient in the facility if both of the following
27conditions are met:
28(1) The professional person or another professional person
29designated by him or her has examined and evaluated the person
30and determined that the person is gravely disabled.
31(2) The professional person or another professional person
32designated by him or her has determined that future examination
33on an inpatient basis is not necessary for a determination that the
34person is gravely disabled.
35(c) (1) The court, after a hearing attended by the proposed
36conservatee or the proposed conservatee’s counsel, or both, may
37recommend a
conservatorship under this chapter to the officer
38providing conservatorship investigation of the person’s county of
39residence if the court, in consultation with a physician providing
40comprehensive evaluation or intensive treatment, in a proceeding
P4 1under the Probate Code determines based on evidence presented
2to the court, including medical evidence, that a person for whom
3a conservatorship has been established under the Probate Code
4may be gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or
5impairment by chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept or is
6incapable of accepting treatment voluntarily. If the proposed
7conservatee cannot afford counsel, the court shall appoint counsel
8for him or her.
9(2) begin deleteWithin 30 days after the recommendation pursuant to begin insertThe
end insertofficer providing conservatorship
10paragraph (1), the end delete
11investigation shall file a copy of his or her report with the court
12making the recommendation in the probate conservatorship.
13(d) If the officer providing conservatorship investigation concurs
14with the recommendation of the professional person, pursuant to
15subdivision (a) or (b), or the court, pursuant to subdivision (c), he
16or she shall petition the superior court in the patient’s county of
17residence to establish conservatorship.
18(e) If temporary conservatorship is indicated, that fact shall be
19alternatively pleaded in the petition. The officer providing
20conservatorship investigation or other county officer or employee
21designated by the county shall act as the temporary conservator.
Section 5354 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
23amended to read:
(a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
25shall investigate all available alternatives to conservatorship and
26shall recommend conservatorship to the court only if no suitable
27alternatives are available. This officer shall render to the court a
28written report of investigation prior to the hearing. The report to
29the court shall be comprehensive and shall contain all relevant
30aspects of the person’s medical, psychological, financial, family,
31vocational, and social condition, and information obtained from
32the person’s family members, close friends, social worker, or
33principal therapist. The report shall also contain all available
34information concerning the person’s real and personal property.
35The
facilities providing intensive treatment or comprehensive
36evaluation shall disclose any records or information that may
37facilitate the investigation. If the recommendation for
38conservatorship was made pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
395352, the existing probate conservator shall disclose any records
40or information that may facilitate the investigation. If the officer
P5 1providing conservatorship investigation recommends against
2conservatorship, he or she shall set forth all alternatives available.
3A copy of the report shall be transmitted to the individual who, or
4the court that, originally recommended conservatorship, to the
5person or agency, if any, recommended to serve as conservator,
6and to the person recommended for conservatorship. The court
7may receive the report in evidence and may read and consider the
8contents thereof in rendering its judgment.
9(b) Notwithstanding Section 5328, when a court with jurisdiction
10over a person in a criminal case orders an evaluation of the person’s
11mental condition pursuant to Section 5200, and that evaluation
12leads to a conservatorship investigation, the officer providing the
13conservatorship investigation shall serve a copy of the report
14required under subdivision (a) upon the defendant or the
15defendant’s counsel. Upon the prior written request of the
16defendant or the defendant’s counsel, the officer providing the
17conservatorship investigation shall also submit a copy of the report
18to the court hearing the criminal case, the district attorney, and the
19county probation department. The conservatorship investigation
20report and the information contained in that report, shall be kept
21confidential and shall not be further disclosed to anyone without
22the prior written consent of the defendant. After disposition
of the
23criminal case, the court shall place all copies of the report in a
24sealed file, except as follows:
25(1) The defendant and the defendant’s counsel may retain their
26copy.
27(2) If the defendant is placed on probation status, the county
28probation department may retain a copy of the report for the
29purpose of supervision of the defendant until the probation is
30terminated, at which time the probation department shall return
31its copy of the report to the court for placement into the sealed file.
Section 5360 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
33amended to read:
(a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
35shall recommend, in his or her report to the court, for or against
36imposition of a disability set forth in Section 5357 on the basis of
37the determination of the professional person who recommended
38conservatorship pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 5352,
39or the determination of the physician who presented medical
40evidence to the court pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 5352.
P6 1(b) The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall
2recommend in his or her report any of the additional powers of a
3conservator set forth in Section 2591 of the Probate Code if the
4needs of the
individual patient or his estate require such powers.
5In making this determination, the officer providing conservatorship
6investigation shall consult with the professional person who
7recommended conservatorship pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b)
8of Section 5352, or the determination of the physician who
9presented medical evidence to the court pursuant to subdivision
10(c) of Section 5352.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
12this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
13local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
14pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
154 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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