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. Existing law also provides for the establishment of a conservatorship for a person who is unable to properly provide for his or her personal needs or is substantially unable to manage his or her finances.
This bill would authorize the court, if a conservatorship has already been established under the Probatebegin delete Codeend deletebegin insert Code,end insert and after a hearing attended by thebegin delete conservatee or the conservatee’s counsel, or both,end deletebegin insert conservatee’s counsel, to order an investigation from, andend insert to recommend a conservatorshipbegin delete toend deletebegin insert
to,end insert
the officer providing conservatorship investigation if the court, in consultation with a licensed physician or psychologist, as specified, providing comprehensive evaluation or intensive treatment,begin delete in a
proceeding under the Probate Code determines, based on the evidence presented to the court, including medical evidence,end deletebegin insert determines, in a specified proceeding,end insert that the conservatee 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 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. The bill would require a 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 to receive notice by the person for whom
6conservatorship is sought, of the time and place of the
7conservatorship hearing. The person for whom the conservatorship
8is sought shall be advised by the facility treating the person, or by
9the court in a proceeding under the Probate Code, if the
10recommendation was made pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
115352, that he or she may request that information about the time
12and place of the conservatorship hearing not be given to family
13members if the proposed conservator is not a family member. The
14request shall be honored by the mental health program. Neither
15this
section nor Section 5350 shall be interpreted to allow the
16proposed conservatee to request that any proposed conservator not
17be advised of the time and place of the conservatorship hearing.
Section 5352 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
19amended to read:
(a) If the professional person in charge of an agency
21providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing
22intensive treatment determines that a person in his or her care is
23gravely disabled as a result of mental disorder or impairment by
24chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or incapable of
25accepting, treatment voluntarily, he or she may recommend
26conservatorship of the person to the officer providing
27conservatorship investigation of the person’s county of residence
28before admitting the person as a patient in the facility.
29(b) The professional person in charge of an agency providing
30comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing
intensive
31
treatment may recommend conservatorship for a person without
32the person being an inpatient in the facility if both of the following
33conditions are met:
34(1) The professional person or another professional person
35designated by him or her has examined and evaluated the person
36and determined that the person is gravely disabled.
37(2) The professional person or another professional person
38designated by him or her has determined that future examination
P4 1on an inpatient basis is not necessary for a determination that the
2person is gravely disabled.
3(c) (1) If a conservatorship has already been established under
4the Probate Code, the court, in a proceeding under the Probate
5Code, after a
hearing attended by thebegin delete conservatee or the begin insert conservatee’s counsel, may
6conservatee’s counsel, or both, mayend delete
7order an investigation from, and end insertrecommend a conservatorship of
8the person under this chapterbegin delete toend deletebegin insert to,end insert the officer providing
9conservatorship investigation of the person’s county of residence
10if the court, in a proceeding under the Probate Code, in consultation
11with a licensed physician or licensed psychologist satisfying the
12conditions of subdivision (c) of Section 2032.020 of the Code of
13Civil Procedure providing comprehensive evaluation or intensive
14treatment,
determines based on evidence presented to the court,
15including medical evidence, that
the conservatee may be gravely
16disabled as a result of a mental disorder or impairment by chronic
17alcoholism and is unwilling to accept or is incapable of accepting
18treatment voluntarily. If the conservatee cannot afford counsel,
19the court, in a proceeding under the Probate Code, shall appoint
20counsel for him or her.
21(2) The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall
22file a copy of his or her report with the court making the
23recommendation in a proceeding under the Probate Code.
24(d) If the officer providing conservatorship investigation concurs
25with the recommendation of the professional person, pursuant to
26subdivision (a) or (b), or the court, pursuant to subdivision (c), he
27or she shall petition the superior court in the patient’s county of
28residence
to establish conservatorship.
29(e) If temporary conservatorship is indicated, that fact shall be
30alternatively pleaded in the petition. The officer providing
31conservatorship investigation or other county officer or employee
32designated by the county shall act as the temporary conservator.
Section 5354 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
34amended to read:
(a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
36shall investigate all available alternatives to conservatorship and
37shall recommend conservatorship to the court only if no suitable
38alternatives are available. This officer shall render to the court a
39written report of investigation before the hearing. The report to
40the court shall be comprehensive and shall contain all relevant
P5 1aspects of the person’s medical, psychological, financial, family,
2vocational, and social condition, and information obtained from
3the person’s family members, close friends, social worker, or
4principal therapist. The report shall also contain all available
5information concerning the person’s real and personal property.
6The
facilities providing intensive treatment or comprehensive
7evaluation shall disclose any records or information that may
8facilitate the investigation. If the recommendation for
9conservatorship was made pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
105352, the conservator in a proceeding under the Probate Code shall
11disclose any records or information that may facilitate the
12investigation. If the officer providing conservatorship investigation
13recommends against conservatorship, he or she shall set forth all
14alternatives available. A copy of the report shall be transmitted to
15the individual who, or the court, in a proceeding under the Probate
16Code, that, originally recommended conservatorship, to the person
17or agency, if any, recommended to serve as conservator, and to
18the person recommended for conservatorship. The court may
19receive the report in evidence and may read and consider the
20contents thereof in
rendering its judgment.
21(b) Notwithstanding Section 5328, when a court with jurisdiction
22over a person in a criminal case orders an evaluation of the person’s
23mental condition pursuant to Section 5200, and that evaluation
24leads to a conservatorship investigation, the officer providing the
25conservatorship investigation shall serve a copy of the report
26required under subdivision (a) upon the defendant or the
27defendant’s counsel. Upon the prior written request of the
28defendant or the defendant’s counsel, the officer providing the
29conservatorship investigation shall also submit a copy of the report
30to the court hearing the criminal case, the district attorney, and the
31county probation department. The conservatorship investigation
32report and the information contained in that report, shall be kept
33confidential and shall not be further
disclosed to anyone without
34the prior written consent of the defendant. After disposition of the
35criminal case, the court shall place all copies of the report in a
36sealed file, except as follows:
37(1) The defendant and the defendant’s counsel may retain their
38copy.
39(2) If the defendant is placed on probation status, the county
40probation department may retain a copy of the report for the
P6 1purpose of supervision of the defendant until the probation is
2terminated, at which time the probation department shall return
3its copy of the report to the court for placement into the sealed file.
Section 5360 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
5amended to read:
(a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
7shall recommend, in his or her report to the court, for or against
8imposition of a disability set forth in Section 5357 on the basis of
9the determination of the professional person who recommended
10conservatorship pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 5352,
11or the determination of the physician or psychologist who presented
12medical evidence to the court pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
135352.
14(b) The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall
15recommend in his or her report any of the additional powers of a
16conservator set forth in Section 2591 of the Probate Code if the
17needs
of the individual patient or his estate require such powers.
18In making this determination, the officer providing conservatorship
19investigation shall consult with the professional person who
20recommended conservatorship pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b)
21of Section 5352, or the physician or psychologist who presented
22medical evidence to the court pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
235352.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
25this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
26local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
27pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
284 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
O
95