CHAPTER _______

An act to amend Section 5604 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1424, Mullin. Mental health: community mental health board.

Existing law requires each community mental health service to have a mental health board consisting of 10 to 15 members who are appointed by the governing body, and encourages counties to appoint individuals who have experience with and knowledge of the mental health system. Existing law requires 50% of the board membership to be consumers, or the parents, spouses, siblings, or adult children of consumers, who are receiving or have received mental health services. Existing law prohibits a member of the board, or his or her spouse, from being a full-time or part-time county employee of a county mental health service, an employee of the State Department of Health Care Services, or an employee of, or a paid member of the governing body of, a mental health contract agency.

This bill would exempt from this prohibition a consumer of mental health services who obtained employment with an employer described above and who holds a position in which he or she has no interest, influence, or authority over any financial or contractual matter concerning the employer, and would require that member to abstain from voting on any financial or contractual issue concerning his or her employer that may come before the board.

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 5604 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

5604.  

(a) (1) Each community mental health service shall have a mental health board consisting of 10 to 15 members, depending on the preference of the county, appointed by the governing body, except that boards in counties with a population of less than 80,000 may have a minimum of five members. One member of the board shall be a member of the local governing body. Any county with more than five supervisors shall have at least the same number of members as the size of its board of supervisors. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of the governing body to increase the number of members above 15. Local mental health boards may recommend appointees to the county supervisors. Counties are encouraged to appoint individuals who have experience with and knowledge of the mental health system. The board membership should reflect the ethnic diversity of the client population in the county.

(2) Fifty percent of the board membership shall be consumers, or the parents, spouses, siblings, or adult children of consumers, who are receiving or have received mental health services. At least 20 percent of the total membership shall be consumers, and at least 20 percent shall be families of consumers.

(3) (A) In counties under 80,000 population, at least one member shall be a consumer, and at least one member shall be a parent, spouse, sibling, or adult child of a consumer, who is receiving, or has received, mental health services.

(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a board in a county with a population under 80,000 that elects to have the board exceed the five-member minimum permitted under paragraph (1) shall be required to comply with paragraph (2).

(b) The term of each member of the board shall be for three years. The governing body shall equitably stagger the appointments so that approximately one-third of the appointments expire in each year.

(c) If two or more local agencies jointly establish a community mental health service under Article 1 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, the mental health board for the community mental health service shall consist of an additional two members for each additional agency, one of whom shall be a consumer or a parent, spouse, sibling, or adult child of a consumer who has received mental health services.

(d)  (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no member of the board or his or her spouse shall be a full-time or part-time county employee of a county mental health service, an employee of the State Department of Health Care Services, or an employee of, or a paid member of the governing body of, a mental health contract agency.

(2) A consumer of mental health services who has obtained employment with an employer described in paragraph (1) and who holds a position in which he or she does not have any interest, influence, or authority over any financial or contractual matter concerning the employer may be appointed to the board. The member shall abstain from voting on any financial or contractual issue concerning his or her employer that may come before the board.

(e) Members of the board shall abstain from voting on any issue in which the member has a financial interest as defined in Section 87103 of the Government Code.

(f) If it is not possible to secure membership as specified in this section from among persons who reside in the county, the governing body may substitute representatives of the public interest in mental health who are not full-time or part-time employees of the county mental health service, the State Department of Health Care Services, or on the staff of, or a paid member of the governing body of, a mental health contract agency.

(g) The mental health board may be established as an advisory board or a commission, depending on the preference of the county.

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