AB 1836, 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 Probate Code, and after a hearing attended by the conservatee, unless he or she waives presence, and the conservatee’s counsel, to recommend an investigation from the officer providing conservatorship investigation if the court, in consultation with a licensed physician or psychologist, as specified, providing comprehensive evaluation or intensive treatment, determines, in a specified proceeding, 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 professional person providing comprehensive evaluation or intensive treatmentbegin delete or the recommendation of the court,end deletebegin insert or determines after conducting the investigation recommended by the court that the person is gravely disabled,end insert and to file a copy of his or her report with the court. The bill would require a conservator 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
10conservatorship investigation order was made pursuant to
11subdivision (c) of Section 5352, that he or she may request that
12information about the time and place of the conservatorship hearing
13not be given to family members if the proposed conservator is not
14a family member. The request
shall be honored by the mental
15health program. Neither this section nor Section 5350 shall be
16interpreted to allow the proposed conservatee to request that a
17proposed conservator not be advised of the time and place of the
18conservatorship hearing.
Section 5352 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
20amended to read:
(a) If the professional person in charge of an agency
22providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing
23intensive treatment determines that a person in his or her care is
24gravely disabled as a result of mental disorder or impairment by
25chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or incapable of
26accepting, treatment voluntarily, he or she may recommend
27conservatorship of the person to the officer providing
28conservatorship investigation of the person’s county of residence
29before admitting the person as a patient in the facility.
30(b) The professional person in charge of an agency providing
31comprehensive
evaluation or a facility providing intensive
32treatment may recommend conservatorship for a person without
33the person being an inpatient in the facility if both of the following
34conditions are met:
35(1) The professional person or another professional person
36designated by him or her has examined and evaluated the person
37and determined that the person is gravely
disabled.
P4 1(2) The professional person or another professional person
2designated by him or her has determined that future examination
3on an inpatient basis is not necessary for a determination that the
4person is gravely disabled.
5(c) (1) If a conservatorship has already been established under
6the Probate Code, the court, in a proceeding under the Probate
7Code, after an evidentiary hearing attended by the conservatee,
8unless the conservatee waives presence, and the conservatee’s
9counsel, may recommend an investigation from the officer
10providing conservatorship investigation in the person’s county of
11residence if the court, in a proceeding under the Probate Code, in
12consultation with a licensed physician or licensed psychologist
13satisfying
the conditions of subdivision (c) of Section 2032.020
14of the Code of Civil Procedure providing comprehensive evaluation
15or intensive treatment, determines, based on evidence presented
16to the court, including medicalbegin delete evidence,end deletebegin insert evidence and an
17examination of the conservatee,end insert that the conservatee may be
18gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or impairment by
19chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept or is incapable of
20accepting treatment voluntarily. If the conservatee cannot afford
21counsel, the court, in a proceeding under the Probate Code, shall
22
appoint counsel for him or her.
23(2) The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall
24file a copy of his or her report with the court making the
25recommendation for conservatorship in a proceeding under the
26Probate Code.
27(d) If the officer providing conservatorship investigation concurs
28with the recommendation of the professional person, pursuant to
29subdivision (a) or (b), orbegin delete the court,end deletebegin insert determines after conducting
30the investigation recommended by the courtend insert pursuant to subdivision
31begin delete (c),end deletebegin insert
(c) that the person is gravely disabled,end insert he or she shall petition
32the superior court in the patient’s county of residence to establish
33conservatorship.
34(e) If temporary conservatorship is indicated, that fact shall be
35alternatively pleaded in the petition. The officer providing
36conservatorship investigation or other county officer or employee
37designated by the county shall act as the temporary conservator.
Section 5354 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
39amended to read:
(a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
2shall investigate all available alternatives to conservatorship and
3shall recommend conservatorship to the court only if no suitable
4alternatives are available. The officer shall render to the court a
5written report of investigation before the hearing. The report to
6the court shall be comprehensive and shall contain all relevant
7aspects of the person’s medical, psychological, financial, family,
8vocational, and social condition, and information obtained from
9the person’s family members, close friends, social worker, or
10principal therapist. The report shall also contain all available
11information concerning the
person’s real and personal property.
12The facilities providing intensive treatment or comprehensive
13evaluation shall disclose any records or information that may
14facilitate the investigation. If the recommendation for
15conservatorship was made pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
165352, the conservator in a proceeding under the Probate Code shall
17disclose any records or information that may facilitate the
18investigation. If the officer providing conservatorship investigation
19recommends against conservatorship, he or she shall set forth all
20alternatives available. A copy of the report shall be transmitted to
21the individual who originally recommended conservatorship, or,
22in a proceeding under the Probate Code, to the court that originally
23recommended conservatorship, to the person or agency, if any,
24recommended to serve as conservator, and to the person
25recommended for conservatorship. The court may receive
the
26report in evidence and may read and consider the contents thereof
27in rendering its judgment.
28(b) Notwithstanding Section 5328, when a court with jurisdiction
29over a person in a criminal case orders an evaluation of the person’s
30mental condition pursuant to Section 5200, and that evaluation
31leads to a conservatorship investigation, the officer providing the
32conservatorship investigation shall serve a copy of the report
33required under subdivision (a) upon the defendant or the
34defendant’s counsel. Upon the prior written request of the
35defendant or the defendant’s counsel, the officer providing the
36
conservatorship investigation shall also submit a copy of the report
37to the court hearing the criminal case, the district attorney, and the
38county probation department. The conservatorship investigation
39report and the information contained in that report, shall be kept
40confidential and shall not be further disclosed to anyone without
P6 1the prior written consent of the defendant. After disposition of the
2criminal case, the court shall place all copies of the report in a
3sealed file, except as follows:
4(1) The defendant and the defendant’s counsel may retain their
5copy.
6(2) If the defendant is placed on probation status, the county
7probation department may retain a copy of the report for the
8purpose of supervision of the defendant until the probation is
9terminated,
at which time the probation department shall return
10its copy of the report to the court for placement into the sealed file.
Section 5360 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
12amended to read:
(a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
14shall recommend, in his or her report to the court, for or against
15imposition of a disability set forth in Section 5357 on the basis of
16the determination of the professional person who recommended
17conservatorship pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 5352,
18or the determination of the physician or psychologist who presented
19medical evidence to the court pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
205352.
21(b) The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall
22recommend in his or her report any of the additional powers of a
23conservator set forth in
Section 2591 of the Probate Code if the
24needs of the individualbegin delete patient or his estateend deletebegin insert patient, or his or her
25estate,end insert require those powers. In making this determination, the
26officer providing conservatorship investigation shall consult with
27the professional person who recommended conservatorship
28pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 5352, or the physician
29or psychologist who presented medical evidence to the court
30pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 5352.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
32this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
33local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
34pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
354 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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