BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 745|
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 745
Author: Chau (D)
Amended: 4/6/15 in Assembly
Vote: 27
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/10/15
AYES: Hernandez, Nguyen, Hall, Mitchell, Monning, Nielsen,
Pan, Roth, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/4/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability
Commission
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the Governor to appoint an
additional member to the Mental Health Services Oversight and
Accountability Commission in existing law, who has experience
providing supportive housing to people with a severe mental
illness.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Mental Health Services Oversight and
Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) to oversee the
implementation of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA),
enacted by voters in 2004 as Proposition 63, which provides
funds to counties to expand services, and develop innovative
programs and integrated service plans, for mentally ill
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children, adults, and seniors through a one percent income tax
on personal income above $1 million.
2)Requires the MHSOAC to consist of 16 voting members as
follows:
a) The Attorney General or his or her designee;
b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction or his or her
designee;
c) The Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services
Committee or another member of the Senate selected by the
President pro Tempore of the Senate;
d) The Chair of the Assembly Health Committee or another
member of the Assembly selected by the Speaker of the
Assembly; and,
e) 12 members appointed by the Governor that include:
i) Two people with a severe mental illness;
ii) A family member of an adult or senior with a
severe mental illness;
iii) A family member of a child who has or has had a
severe mental illness;
iv) A physician specializing in alcohol and drug
treatment;
v) A mental health professional;
vi) A county sheriff;
vii) A superintendent of a school district;
viii) A representative of a labor organization;
ix) A representative of an employer with less than
500 employees;
x) A representative of an employer with more than
500 employees; and,
xi) A representative of a health care services plan
or insurer.
This bill adds an additional voting member to the MHSOAC, to be
appointed by the Governor, who has experience providing
supportive housing to people with severe mental illness.
Comments
1)Author's statement. According to the author, supportive
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housing has proven to be an effective strategy for reducing
homelessness among people with mental illness. At any given
moment, more than 133,000 Californians are homeless. Of these
Californians, roughly 33,800 (25%) are considered chronically
homeless. According to researchers, at least one-third of
chronically homeless people are mentally ill. The MHSOAC
oversees the implementation of the MHSA and may advise the
Governor or the Legislature on mental health policy. However,
existing law does not require the MHSOAC to include any
members with experience providing supportive housing to
persons with severe mental illness. Adding a member with
supportive housing experience to the MHSOAC would further
encourage the proven method of using supportive housing as a
tool to reduce homelessness.
2)Background. The MHSA requires each county mental health
department to prepare and submit a three-year plan to the
Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) that must be updated
each year and approved by DHCS after review and comment by the
MHSOAC. DHCS is required to provide guidelines to counties
related to each component of the MHSA, including, among other
things, community services and support content to provide
integrated mental health and other support services to those
whose needs are not currently met through other funding
sources; prevention and early intervention content to provide
services to avert mental health crises; and innovative program
content to improve access to mental health services.
In the three-year plans, counties are required to include a
list of all programs for which MHSA funding is being requested
and that identifies how the funds will be spent and which
populations will be served. Counties also must submit their
plans for approval to the MHSOAC before they can spend certain
categories of funding. At the time it was created, the MHSOAC
acted as a division within the Department of Mental Health
(DMH); however, legislative changes effective March 2009
required the MHSOAC to administer its operations apart from
DMH.
3)MHSA Housing Program. Executive Order S-07-06, signed by
Governor Schwarzenegger on May 12, 2006, mandated the
establishment of the MHSA Housing Program, with the stated
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goal of creating 10,000 additional units of permanent
supportive housing for individuals and their families who have
a mental illness and are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
DHCS, the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), and the
County Behavioral Health Directors Association implemented the
MHSA Housing Program, which provides funding for development,
acquisition, construction, and/or rehabilitation of permanent
supportive housing for this population. A total of $400
million was set aside for initial funding of the program to
fund both capital costs and capitalized operating subsidies.
Continued funding of the program is a locally driven decision,
as a county determines whether to assign additional MHSA
funding beyond the original $400 million. By including an
individual on the MHSOAC who has experience in providing
supportive housing to those with a severe mental illness,
housing advocates hope to leverage existing MHSA funds to
continue funding the MHSA Housing Program, as the initial $400
million is nearing depletion.
Funds provided under this program must serve the MHSA Housing
Program target population, which DHCS has defined as
low-income adults, or older adults with serious mental
illness, and children with severe emotional disorders and
their families who, at the time of assessment for housing
services, meet the criteria for MHSA services in their county
of residence. Counties may use MHSA funds for supportive
housing, but are not required to. Supportive housing has
proven to be an effective strategy for reducing homelessness
among people with mental illness. Adding a member with
supportive housing experience to the MHSOAC may further
encourage the method of using supportive housing as a tool to
reduce homelessness of those with severe mental illness.
4)National data on mental illness and homelessness. In the
"Current Statistics on the Prevalence and Characteristics of
People Experiencing Homelessness in the United States," last
updated in July 2011 by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration, data from 2010 shows that,
nationally, on a given night 407,966 individuals were homeless
in shelters, transitional housing programs, or on the streets
(not including those who were sleeping at the homes of family
or friends), and 109,812 individuals were chronically homeless
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(a one percent decrease from the previous year). Of these
individuals, 26.2% had a severe mental illness, and 34.7% of
adults had chronic substance use disorders. Over the course of
that year, data shows that a total of 1,593,150 individuals
experienced homelessness.
Related Legislation
AB 253 (Roger Hernández, 2015) makes specified changes to the
MHSA, the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of
2014, and mental health plan requirements. AB 253 is scheduled
to be heard in the Senate Health Committee on June 24, 2015.
Prior Legislation
AB 1929 (Chau, Chapter 674, Statutes of 2014), allowed county
mental health departments to deposit MHSA funding with CalHFA,
as specified, and allows CalHFA to use those funds for special
housing needs for those with mental illness. Required counties
to dedicate funds to provide housing assistance to those with
serious mental illness who are homeless or to the mentally ill
at risk of being homeless.
SB 82 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 34,
Statutes of 2013), established the Investment in Mental Health
Wellness Act of 2013 and authorized the California Health
Facilities Financing Authority to administer a program to
increase capacity for mobile crisis support, crisis
intervention, crisis stabilization services, crisis residential
treatment, and specified personnel resources.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/23/15)
California Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers
California Primary Care Association
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OPPOSITION: (Verified6/23/15)
None received
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: The California Primary Care
Association writes in support and states that research has
demonstrated the positive effects that supportive housing has on
an individual's employment, mental health, physical health, and
school attendance, leading to a decrease in the use of
hospitals, emergency rooms, and jails and prisons. The
California Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers
writes that including an additional individual on the MHSOAC
that has experience in supportive housing is consistent with
improving mental health services to those in need.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/4/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd,
Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Campos, Dahle
Prepared by:Reyes Diaz / HEALTH /
6/24/15 16:08:45
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