BILL NUMBER: SB 851	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senators Steinberg and Romero

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2007

   An act to add Sections 851.95, 2686, and 2982 to, to add Article
3.5 (commencing with Section 2687) to Chapter 4 of Title 1 of Part 3
of, Chapter 2.73 (commencing with Section 1001.130) to Title 6 of
Part 2 of, the Penal Code, and to amend Sections 5806 and 5814 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mentally ill offenders.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 851, as introduced, Steinberg. Mentally ill offenders.
   Existing law provides for the diversion of specified criminal
offenders in alternate sentencing and treatment programs.
   This bill would provide that if a law enforcement official
suspects that a crime has been committed by an individual with a
severe mental health or substance abuse condition, he or she shall
contact the county mental health director to ascertain if there is
available treatment capacity to provide that person with services, as
specified. This bill would provide that if the individual fails to
remain in treatment, any pending criminal charges and arrest that had
been deferred pending treatment can proceed at that time.
   This bill would authorize superior courts to develop and implement
mental Health Courts, as specified, for offenders suffering from
mental illness against whom a complaint or citation for a misdemeanor
or felony offense is pending. This bill would require each county,
with the input of local stakeholders, to establish a method for
screening every defendant for mental illness and co-occurring
disorders at the time a complaint or citation is filed for a
misdemeanor or felony offense and establish case eligibility criteria
specifying what factors relating to the amenability of the defendant
to treatment and to the facts of the case will make the defendant
eligible to participate in a mental health court. This bill would
provide that if a defendant is determined to be eligible to
participate in a mental health court and consents to participate, the
defendant will be placed on probation and will be required to
participate in the program for a minimum of one year.
   This bill would also require each mental health court to report to
the State Department of Mental Health, the State Department of
Alcohol and Drug Programs, and the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation. Because this bill would change the punishment for
commission of various crimes and would require local officials to
provide a higher level of service, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
   Existing law provides for the allocation of state funds to
counties for mental health programs.
   This bill would make various statements of legislative findings
and intent regarding the need to provide mental health and related
services to parolees. This bill would require all parolees with a
severe mental illness to receive comprehensive mental health and
supportive services, as specified. This bill would provide that the
department may contract with counties or private providers for these
services.
   This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to encourage
each correctional facility to implement a system of care, as
described, for the delivery of mental health services to parolees who
have a serious mental disorder.
   This bill would require the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation in consultation with the State Department of Mental
Health to establish service standards that ensure that parolees who
have a serious mental disorder are identified, and services provided
to assist them to be able upon release to live independently, work,
and reach their potential as productive citizens, as specified. This
bill would require the State Department of Mental Health to provide
training, consultation, and technical assistance for facilities and
programs, as specified.
   This bill would provide that funding, based on specified criteria,
at sufficient levels to ensure that each facility and parolee center
can provide each parolee served pursuant to these provisions with
the medically necessary mental health services shall be provided, but
that the portion of those costs of services that can be paid for
with other funds including other mental health funds, public and
private insurance, and other local, state, and federal funds shall
not be covered.
   This bill would require the Director of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish an advisory committee for
the purpose of providing advice regarding the development of the
identification of specific performance measures for evaluating the
effectiveness of programs. This bill would require the department, in
consultation with the advisory committee, to provide in a report to
the Legislature, submitted on or before May 1 of each year in which
additional funding is provided, an evaluation of the effectiveness of
the strategies for parolees in reducing homelessness, recidivism
involvement with local law enforcement, and other measures identified
by the department.
   This bill would provide that in order to reduce the cost of
providing supportive housing for clients, parolee centers shall enter
into contracts with sponsors of supportive housing projects to the
greatest extent possible.
   Existing law provides that there is within the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation the Council on Mentally Ill Offenders,
the goal of which is to investigate and promote cost-effective
approaches to meeting the long-term needs of adults and juveniles
with mental disorders who are likely to become offenders, or who have
a history of offending, by considering strategies that improve
service coordination among state and local mental health, criminal
justice, and juvenile justice programs, as specified. Existing law
also provides a procedure whereby, if, in the opinion of the Director
of the department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the
rehabilitation of any mentally ill, mentally deficient, or insane
person confined in a state prison may be expedited by treatment at
any one of the state hospitals, he or she may have that person
evaluated to determine if he or she would benefit from care and
treatment in a state hospital.
   This bill would require the department to provide training for all
persons who will be responsible for the management and care of
persons with serious mental illness in its custody to ensure that
they are trained in recovery oriented rehabilitative services and
that those services are provided in prison. This bill would also
require the department to ensure that all its correctional officers
are trained in dealing with inmates with mental illness.
   Existing law requires, as a condition of parole, that a prisoner
who has a treatable, severe mental disorder that was one of the
causes of, or was an aggravating factor in, the commission of the
crime for which he or she was incarcerated, be treated by the State
Department of Mental Health, as specified.
   This bill would require the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to apply for social security and Medi-Cal benefits for
a prisoner with a severe mental illness who is considered disabled,
and to begin vocational training, independent living assistance, and
development of other skills necessary for success at least 6 months
before his or her discharge. This bill would also require the
department to coordinate with a program that will continue the
medications and support services provided to the prisoner by the
department after the period of incarceration, in the last 90 days
before release of a prisoner with a severe mental illness.
   This bill would make other conforming changes.
   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 with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
   With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 851.95 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   851.95.  (a) If a law enforcement official suspects that a crime
has been committed by an individual with a severe mental health or
substance abuse condition, and believes that with mental health or
substance abuse treatment, criminal behavior would not, in all
likelihood, continue and the person is willing to participate in a
treatment program, the law enforcement official shall contact the
county mental health director to ascertain if there is available
treatment capacity.
   (b) If there is treatment capacity available, the individual shall
receive services in accordance with the Mental Health Adult System
of Care set forth in Section 5806 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code. If the individual fails to remain in treatment, any pending
criminal charges and arrest that had been deferred pending treatment
can proceed at that time.
  SEC. 2.  Chapter 2.73 (commencing with Section 1001.130) is added
to Title 6 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 2.73.  DIVERSION OF MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS


   1001.130.  (a) Superior courts are hereby authorized to develop
and implement mental health courts consistent with this section and
any existing Judicial Council guidelines.
   (b) For purposes of this section, a mental health court shall have
the following objectives:
   (1) Increased cooperation between the courts, criminal justice,
mental health, and substance abuse systems.
   (2) Modified court processes that lead to placement of as many
mentally ill offenders, including those with cooccurring disorders,
in community treatment, consistent with public safety.
   (3) Improved access to necessary services and support.
   (4) Reduced recidivism.
   (c) A Mental Health Court shall provide a single point of contact
where a defendant with a mental disability or cooccurring disorder
may receive court-ordered treatment and support services in
connection with a diversion from prosecution, a sentencing
alternative, or a term of probation.
   (d) A Mental Health Court shall meet the following criteria:
   (1) Defendants may be referred to the Mental Health Court from a
variety of sources, including, but not limited to, judges within the
court, police, attorneys, family members, probation officers, the
district attorney, the public defender, and jail personnel.
   (2) The court shall develop standards for continuing participation
in, and graduation from, the Mental Health Court program through a
collaborative process.
   (3) The Mental Health Court shall use a dedicated calendar,
designated staff that include, but is not limited to, a designated
judge to preside over the court, prosecutor, public defender, county
mental health liaison, and probation officer.
   (4) The county mental health department and drug and alcohol
department shall provide initial and ongoing training for designated
staff, as needed, on the nature of mental illness and on the
treatment and supportive services available in the community.
   (5) The Mental Health Court shall use community mental health
providers and other agencies to offer defendants access to
individualized treatment services.
   (6) The Mental Health Court shall establish a treatment plan for
each defendant, and other terms and conditions that will optimize the
likelihood that the defendant will complete the program.
   (7) The Mental Health Court shall hold frequent reviews of the
offender's progress in community treatment and hold the offender
accountable to adhere to the treatment plan, remain in treatment, and
complete treatment.
   (e) A Mental Health Court shall contact the county mental health
department to ensure that there is coordination and availability of
the necessary mental health services, including management and
evaluation of the success of those services.
   1001.131.  Defendants suffering from mental illness shall be
eligible to participate in a Mental Health Court pursuant to this
chapter if a complaint or citation for an offense is pending in
superior court.
   1001.132.  (a) Each county, with the input of local stakeholders,
shall establish a method for screening every defendant for mental
illness and cooccurring disorders, at the time a complaint or
citation is filed for a misdemeanor or felony offense, or at another
specified time determined most appropriate by local stakeholders to
consider transferring the defendant to a Mental Health Court.
   (b) Each county shall, with the input of stakeholders, establish
case eligibility criteria specifying what factors relating to the
amenability of the defendant to treatment and to the facts of the
case will make the defendant eligible to participate in a Mental
Health Court.
   (c) If the defendant is found to be suffering from mental illness,
subsequent evaluation by the local mental health director or his or
her designee shall determine whether a defendant who is suffering
from mental illness is appropriate for treatment under the county
eligibility criteria established pursuant to subdivision (b).
   (d) If the defendant is found to be suffering from mental illness,
the district attorney or other designee shall assess his or her case
to determine whether it meets the county eligibility criteria
established pursuant to subdivision (b).
   (e) If a defendant is determined to be suffering from mental
illness, designated as treatment appropriate, and his or her case
meets the county eligibility criteria, he or she may participate in a
Mental Health Court.
   1001.133.  (a) If a defendant is determined to be eligible to
participate in a Mental Health Court and consents to participate, the
defendant will be placed on probation and will be required to
participate in the program for a minimum of one year.
   (b) The terms and conditions of probation shall include
participation in a Mental Health Treatment Program and, if he or she
is on parole, the terms and conditions of his or her parole.
   (c) If the defendant fails to successfully complete the Mental
Heath Treatment Program, the court shall sentence the defendant for
the current misdemeanor or felony offense.
   1001.134.  Each Mental Health Court shall report to the State
Department of Mental Health, the State Department of Alcohol and Drug
Programs, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation the
savings in prison days resulting from implementation of the Mental
Health Court in a manner consistent with the present reporting system
for the Comprehensive Drug Court Implementation Act of 1999 (Article
2 (commencing with Section 11970.1) of Chapter 2 of Part 3 of
Division 10.5 of the Health and Safety Code).
  SEC. 3.  Section 2686 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   2686.  (a) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall
provide training for all persons who will be responsible for the
management and care of persons with serious mental illness in the
custody of the department to ensure that they are trained in recovery
oriented rehabilitative services and that those services are
provided in prison.
   (b) The department shall ensure that all its correctional officers
are trained in dealing with inmates with mental illness.
  SEC. 4.  Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 2687) is added to
Chapter 4 of Title 1 of Part 3 of the Penal Code, to read:

      Article 3.5.  Parolee Mental Health


   2687.  (a) A system of care for parolees with severe mental
illness results in the highest benefit to the client, family, and
society while ensuring that the public sector meets its legal
responsibility and fiscal liability at the lowest possible cost.
   (b) The underlying philosophy for these systems of care includes
the following:
   (1) Mental health care is a basic human service.
   (2) Seriously mentally disordered parolees usually have multiple
disorders and disabling conditions.
   (3) Seriously mentally disordered parolees should be assigned a
single person or team to be responsible for all treatment, case
management, and support services.
   (4) The client should be fully informed and volunteer for all
treatment provided, unless danger to self or others or grave
disability requires temporary involuntary treatment.
   (5) Clients and families should directly participate in making
decisions about services and resource allocations that affect their
lives.
   (6) Mental health services should be responsive to the unique
characteristics of people with mental disorders including age,
gender, minority, and ethnic background, and the effect of multiple
disorders.
   (7) Treatment, case management, and support services should be
designed to prevent inappropriate removal to more restrictive and
costly placements.
   (8) Mental health systems of care shall have measurable goals and
be fully accountable by providing measures of client outcomes and
cost of services.
   (9) State and county government agencies each have
responsibilities and fiscal liabilities for seriously mentally
disordered parolees.
   2687.1.  All parolees with a severe mental illness shall receive
comprehensive mental health and supportive services comparable to the
case management and services available under Section 5806 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code as set forth in this article.
   2687.2.  The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall
ensure the mental health needs of all parolees are met in accordance
with community standards of mental health care. For those with a
serious mental disorder, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(b) of Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, all
services shall be in accordance with this article.
   2687.3.  (a) The Legislature finds that a mental health system of
care for parolees with severe and persistent mental illness is vital
for successful management of mental health care in California and
should encompass all of the following:
   (1) A comprehensive and coordinated system of care including
treatment, early intervention strategies, case management, and system
components required by parolees with severe and persistent mental
illness.
   (2) The recovery of persons with severe mental illness and their
financial means are important for all levels of government, business,
and the community.
   (3) System of care services that ensure culturally competent care
for persons with severe mental illness in the most appropriate, least
restrictive level of care are necessary to achieve the desired
performance outcomes.
   (4) Mental health service providers need to increase
accountability and further develop methods to measure progress toward
client outcome goals and cost effectiveness as required by a system
of care.
   (b) The Legislature further finds that the adult system of care
model, begun in the 1989-90 fiscal year through the implementation of
Chapter 982 of the Statutes of 1988, provides models for parolees
with severe mental illness that can meet the performance outcomes
required by the Legislature.
   (c) The Legislature also finds that the system components
established in adult systems of care are of value in providing
greater benefit to parolees with severe and persistent mental illness
at a lower cost in California.
   (d) Therefore, using the guidelines and principles developed under
the demonstration projects implemented under the elder system of
care legislation in 1989, it is the intent of the Legislature to
accomplish the following:
   (1) Encourage each correctional facility to implement a system of
care as described in this legislation for the delivery of mental
health services to seriously mentally disordered parolees.
   (2) To promote system of care accountability for performance
outcomes that enable parolees with severe mental illness to reduce
symptoms that impair their ability to live independently, work,
maintain community supports, care for their children, stay in good
health, not abuse drugs or alcohol, and not commit crimes.
   (3) Provide funds for mental health services and related
medications, substance abuse services, supportive housing or other
housing assistance, vocational rehabilitation, and other nonmedical
programs necessary to stabilize mentally ill prisoners and parolees,
reduce the risk of being homeless, get them off the street and into
treatment and recovery, or to provide access to veterans' services
that will also provide for treatment and recovery.
   2687.4.  The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in
consultation with the State Department of Mental Health shall
establish service standards that ensure that prisoners with a serious
mental disorder, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of
Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, are identified,
and services are provided to assist them to be able, upon release, to
live independently, work, and reach their potential as productive
citizens. The department shall provide annual oversight of services
pursuant to this part for compliance with these standards.
   These standards shall include, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
   (a) A service planning and delivery process that is target
population-based and includes the following:
   (1) Determination of the number of clients to be served and the
programs and services that will be provided to meet their needs.
   (2) Plans for services, including design of mental health
services, coordination and access to medications, psychiatric and
psychological services, substance abuse services, supportive housing
or other housing assistance for parolees, vocational rehabilitation,
and veterans' services. Plans shall also contain evaluation
strategies that shall consider cultural, linguistic, gender, age, and
special needs of minorities in the target populations. Provision
shall be made for staff with the cultural background and linguistic
skills necessary to remove barriers to mental health services due to
limited-English-speaking ability and cultural differences.
   (3) Provisions for services to meet the needs of target population
clients who are physically disabled.
   (4) Provision for services to meet the special needs of elder
adults.
   (5) Provision for family support and consultation services,
parenting support and consultation services, and peer support or
self-help group support, if appropriate for the individual.
   (6) Provision for services to be client-directed and that employ
psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery principles.
   (7) Provision for psychiatric and psychological services that are
integrated with other services and for psychiatric and psychological
collaboration in overall service planning.
   (8) Provision for services specifically directed to seriously
mentally ill young adults 25 years of age or younger who are at
significant risk of becoming homeless.
   (9) Services reflecting special needs of women from diverse
cultural backgrounds, including supportive housing that accepts
children, personal services coordinator, therapeutic treatment, and
substance treatment programs that address gender specific trauma and
abuse in the lives of persons with mental illness, and vocational
rehabilitation programs that offer job training programs free of
gender bias and sensitive to the needs of women.
   (10) Provision for housing for parolees that is immediate,
transitional, or permanent.
   (b) Each client shall have a clearly designated mental health
personal services coordinator who may be part of a multidisciplinary
treatment team who is responsible for providing or assuring needed
services. Responsibilities include complete assessment of the client'
s needs, development of the client's personal services plan, linkage
with all appropriate community services, monitoring of the quality
and follow through of services, and necessary advocacy to ensure each
client receives those services that are agreed to in the personal
services plan. Each client shall participate in the development of
his or her personal services plan, and responsible staff shall
consult with the designated conservator, if one has been appointed,
and, with the consent of the client, consult with the family and
other significant persons as appropriate.
   (c) The individual personal services plan shall ensure that
members of the target population involved in the system of care
receive age, gender, and culturally appropriate services, to the
extent feasible, that are designed to enable recipients upon release
to:
   (1) Live in the most independent, least restrictive housing
feasible in the local community, and for clients with children, to
live in a supportive housing environment that strives for
reunification with their children or assists clients in maintaining
custody of their children as is appropriate.
   (2) Engage in the highest level of work or productive activity
appropriate to their abilities and experience.
   (3) Create and maintain a support system consisting of friends,
family, and participation in community activities.
   (4) Access an appropriate level of academic education or
vocational training.
   (5) Obtain an adequate income.
   (6) Self-manage their illness and exert as much control as
possible over both the day-to-day and long-term decisions that affect
their lives.
   (7) Access necessary physical health care and maintain the best
possible physical health.
   (8) Reduce or eliminate serious antisocial or criminal behavior
and thereby reduce or eliminate their contact with the criminal
justice system.
   (9) Reduce or eliminate the distress caused by the symptoms of
mental illness.
   (10) Have freedom from dangerous addictive substances.
   (d) The individual personal services plan shall describe the
service array that meets the requirements of subdivision (c), and to
the extent applicable to the individual, the requirements of
subdivision (a).
   2687.5.  The State Department of Mental Health shall continue to
work with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and other
interested parties to refine and establish client and cost outcome
and interagency collaboration goals including the expected level of
attainment with participating counties. These outcome measures should
include specific objectives addressing the following goals:
   (a) Client benefit outcomes.
   (b) Client and family member satisfaction.
   (c) System of care access.
   (d) Cost savings, cost avoidance, and cost-effectiveness outcomes
that measure short-term or long-term cost savings and cost avoidance
achieved in public sector expenditures to the target population.
   2687.6.  The State Department of Mental Health shall provide
training consultation, and technical assistance to the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation. This training, consultation, and
technical assistance shall include:
   (a) Efforts to ensure that all of the different programs are
operating as well as they can.
   (b) Information on which programs are having particular success in
particular areas so that they can be replicated in other counties.
   (c) Technical assistance to facilities in their first two years of
participation to ensure quality and cost-effective service.
   2687.7.  Services shall be available to parolees who have a
serious mental disorder who meet the eligibility criteria in
subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 5600.3 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code.
   (a) Funding shall be provided at sufficient levels to ensure that
each facility and parolee center can provide each parolee served
pursuant to this part with the medically necessary mental health
services, medications, and supportive services set forth in the
applicable treatment plan.
   (b) The funding shall only cover the portions of those costs of
services that cannot be paid for with other funds including other
mental health funds, public and private insurance, and other local,
state, and federal funds.
   (c) Each correctional facility and parolee center shall provide
for services in accordance with the system of care for parolees who
meet the eligibility criteria in subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section
5600.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
   (d) Planning for services shall be consistent with the following
philosophies, principles, and practices:
   (1) To promote concepts key to the recovery for individuals who
have mental illness: hope, personal empowerment, respect, social
connections, self-responsibility, and self-determination.
   (2) To promote consumer-operated services as a way to support
recovery.
   (3) To reflect the cultural, ethnic, and racial diversity of
mental health consumers.
   (4) To plan for each consumer's individual needs.
   2687.8.  (a) The Director of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation shall establish an advisory committee for the purpose
of providing advice regarding the development of the identification
of specific performance measures for evaluating the effectiveness of
programs. The committee shall review evaluation reports and make
findings on evidence-based best practices and recommendations. At not
less than one meeting annually, the advisory committee shall provide
to the director written comments on the performance of each of the
programs.
   (b) The committee shall include, but not be limited to,
representatives from state, county, and community veterans' services
and disabled veterans outreach programs, supportive housing and other
housing assistance programs, law enforcement, county mental health
and private providers of local mental health services and mental
health outreach services, the Board of Corrections, the State
Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, local substance abuse
services providers, the Department of Rehabilitation, providers of
local employment services, the State Department of Social Services,
the Department of Housing and Community Development, a service
provider to transition youth, the United Advocates for Children of
California, the California Mental Health Advocates for Children and
Youth, the Mental Health Association of California, the California
Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the California Network of Mental
Health Clients, the Mental Health Planning Council, and other
appropriate entities.
   2687.9.  The criteria for the funding for each program shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
   (a) A description of a comprehensive strategic plan for providing
prevention, intervention, and evaluation in a cost-appropriate
manner.
   (b) A description of the population to be served, ability to
administer an effective service program, and the degree to which
local agencies and advocates will support and collaborate with
program efforts for parolees.
   (c) A description of efforts to maximize the use of other state,
federal, and local funds or services that can support and enhance the
effectiveness of these programs.
   2687.10.  In order to reduce the cost of providing supportive
housing for clients, parolee centers shall enter into contracts with
sponsors of supportive housing projects to the greatest extent
possible. Centers are encouraged to commit a portion of their funds
to rental assistance.
   (a) In consultation with the advisory committee established
pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 2687.8, the department shall
report to the Legislature on or before May 1 of each year in which
additional funding is provided, and shall evaluate, at a minimum, the
effectiveness of the strategies for parolees in reducing
homelessness, recidivism involvement with local law enforcement, and
other measures identified by the department. The evaluation shall
include for each program funded in the current fiscal year as much of
the following as available information permits:
   (1) The number of persons served, and of those, the number who
receive extensive community mental health services.
   (2) The number of persons who are able to maintain housing,
including the type of housing and whether it is emergency,
transitional, or permanent housing, as defined by the department.
   (3) (A) The amount of funding spent on each type of housing.
   (B) Other local, state, or federal funds or programs used to house
clients.
   (4) The number of persons with contacts with local law enforcement
and the extent to which local and state incarceration has been
reduced or avoided.
   (5) The number of persons participating in employment service
programs including competitive employment.
   (6) The amount of hospitalization that has been reduced or
avoided.
   (7) The extent to which veterans identified through these programs'
outreach are receiving federally funded veterans' services for which
they are eligible.
   (8) The extent to which programs funded for three or more years
are making a measurable and significant difference on the street, in
hospitals, and in jails, as compared to other programs and in
previous years.
   (b) Each facility shall be subject to specific terms and
conditions of oversight and training that shall be developed by the
department, in consultation with the advisory committee.
   (c) (1) As used in this part, "receiving extensive mental health
services" means having a personal services coordinator, as described
in subdivision (b) of Section 5806, and having an individual personal
service plan, as described in subdivision (c) of Section 5806.
   (2) The funding provided pursuant to this article shall be
sufficient to provide mental health services, medically necessary
medications to treat severe mental illnesses, alcohol and drug
services, transportation, supportive housing and other housing
assistance, vocational rehabilitation and supported employment
services, money management assistance for accessing other health care
and obtaining federal income and housing support, accessing veterans'
services, stipends, and other incentives to attract and retain
sufficient numbers of qualified professionals as necessary to provide
the necessary levels of these services. This program shall, however,
pay for only that portion of the costs of those services not
otherwise provided by federal funds or other state funds.
   (3) Methods to contract for services pursuant to paragraph (2)
shall promote prompt and flexible use of funds, consistent with the
scope of services for which the department has contracted with each
provider.
   2687.11.  The department may contract with counties or private
providers for the provision of any of the services described in this
article.
  SEC. 5.  Section 2982 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
   2982.  (a) At least six months before discharge of a prisoner with
a severe mental illness, the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation shall apply for social security and Medi-Cal benefits
for those considered disabled, as well as beginning vocational
training, independent living assistance, and development of other
skills necessary for success
      during parole and afterward.
   (b) In the last 90 days before release of a prisoner with a severe
mental illness, the department shall coordinate with a program that
will continue the medications and support services provided to the
prisoner by the department during parole, after the period of
incarceration.
  SEC. 6.  Section 5806 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   5806.  The State Department of Mental Health shall establish
service standards that ensure that members of the target population
are identified, and services provided to assist them to live
independently, work, and reach their potential as productive
citizens. The department shall provide annual oversight of grants
issued pursuant to this part for compliance with these standards.
These standards shall include, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
   (a) A service planning and delivery process that is target
population based and includes the following:
   (1) Determination of the numbers of clients to be served and the
programs and services that will be provided to meet their needs. The
local director of mental health shall consult with the sheriff, the
police chief, the probation officer, the mental health board,
contract agencies, and family, client, ethnic and citizen
constituency groups as determined by the director.
   (2) Plans for services, including outreach to  individuals
successfully completing parole, mental health courts, and 
families whose severely mentally ill adult is living with them,
design of mental health services, coordination and access to
medications, psychiatric and psychological services, substance abuse
services, supportive housing or other housing assistance, vocational
rehabilitation, and veterans' services. Plans shall also contain
evaluation strategies, that shall consider cultural, linguistic,
gender, age, and special needs of minorities in the target
populations. Provision shall be made for staff with the cultural
background and linguistic skills necessary to remove barriers to
mental health services due to limited-English-speaking ability and
cultural differences. Recipients of outreach services may include
families, the public, primary care physicians,  police, sheriffs,
judges,  and others who are likely to come into contact with
individuals who may be suffering from an untreated severe mental
illness who would be likely to become homeless if the illness
continued to be untreated for a substantial period of time. Outreach
to adults may include adults voluntarily or involuntarily
hospitalized as a result of a severe mental illness.
   (3) Provisions for services to meet the needs of target population
clients who are physically disabled.
   (4) Provision for services to meet the special needs of older
adults.
   (5) Provision for family support and consultation services,
parenting support and consultation services, and peer support or
self-help group support, where appropriate for the individual.
   (6) Provision for services to be client-directed and that employ
psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery principles.
   (7) Provision for psychiatric and psychological services that are
integrated with other services and for psychiatric and psychological
collaboration in overall service planning.
   (8) Provision for services specifically directed to seriously
mentally ill young adults 25 years of age or younger who are homeless
or at significant risk of becoming homeless. These provisions may
include continuation of services that would still be received through
other funds had eligibility not been terminated due to age.
   (9) Services reflecting special needs of women from diverse
cultural backgrounds, including supportive housing that accepts
children, personal services coordinator therapeutic treatment, and
substance treatment programs that address gender specific trauma and
abuse in the lives of persons with mental illness, and vocational
rehabilitation programs that offer job training programs free of
gender bias and sensitive to the needs of women.
   (10) Provision for housing for clients that is immediate,
transitional, permanent, or all of these.
   (11) Provision for clients who have been suffering from an
untreated severe mental illness for less than one year, and who do
not require the full range of services but are at risk of becoming
homeless unless a comprehensive individual and family support
services plan is implemented. These clients shall be served in a
manner that is designed to meet their needs.
   (b) Each client shall have a clearly designated mental health
personal services coordinator who may be part of a multidisciplinary
treatment team who is responsible for providing or assuring needed
services. Responsibilities include complete assessment of the client'
s needs, development of the client's personal services plan, linkage
with all appropriate community services, monitoring of the quality
and follow through of services, and necessary advocacy to ensure each
client receives those services which are agreed to in the personal
services plan. Each client shall participate in the development of
his or her personal services plan, and responsible staff shall
consult with the designated conservator, if one has been appointed,
and, with the consent of the client, consult with the family and
other significant persons as appropriate.
   (c) The individual personal services plan shall ensure that
members of the target population involved in the system of care
receive age, gender, and culturally appropriate services, to the
extent feasible, that are designed to enable recipients to:
   (1) Live in the most independent, least restrictive housing
feasible in the local community, and for clients with children, to
live in a supportive housing environment that strives for
reunification with their children or assists clients in maintaining
custody of their children as is appropriate.
   (2) Engage in the highest level of work or productive activity
appropriate to their abilities and experience.
   (3) Create and maintain a support system consisting of friends,
family, and participation in community activities.
   (4) Access an appropriate level of academic education or
vocational training.
   (5) Obtain an adequate income.
   (6) Self-manage their illness and exert as much control as
possible over both the day-to-day and long-term decisions which
affect their lives.
   (7) Access necessary physical health care and maintain the best
possible physical health.
   (8) Reduce or eliminate serious antisocial or criminal behavior
and thereby reduce or eliminate their contact with the criminal
justice system.
   (9) Reduce or eliminate the distress caused by the symptoms of
mental illness.
   (10) Have freedom from dangerous addictive substances.
   (d) The individual personal services plan shall describe the
service array that meets the requirements of subdivision (c), and to
the extent applicable to the individual, the requirements of
subdivision (a).
  SEC. 7.  Section 5814 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   5814.  (a) (1) This part shall be implemented only to the extent
that funds are appropriated for purposes of this part. To the extent
that funds are made available, the first priority shall go to
maintain funding for the existing programs that meet adult system of
care contract goals. The next priority for funding shall be given to
counties with a high incidence of persons who are severely mentally
ill and homeless or at risk of homelessness, and meet the criteria
developed pursuant to paragraphs (3) and (4).  The next priority
for funding, including the funding pursuant to Section 5892, shall be
for the establishment of capacity for all counties to be able to
serve everyone who meets the   criteria for this part who
are subject to arrest or hospitalization, discharged from a hospital
or jail, or successfully completing parole. 
   (2) The director shall establish a methodology for awarding grants
under this part consistent with the legislative intent expressed in
Section 5802, and in consultation with the advisory committee
established in this subdivision.
   (3) (A) The director shall establish an advisory committee for the
purpose of providing advice regarding the development of criteria
for the award of grants, and the identification of specific
performance measures for evaluating the effectiveness of grants. The
committee shall review evaluation reports and make findings on
evidence-based best practices and recommendations for grant
conditions. At not less than one meeting annually, the advisory
committee shall provide to the director written comments on the
performance of each of the county programs. Upon request by the
department, each participating county that is the subject of a
comment shall provide a written response to the comment. The
department shall comment on each of these responses at a subsequent
meeting.
   (B) The committee shall include, but not be limited to,
representatives from state, county, and community veterans' services
and disabled veterans outreach programs, supportive housing and other
housing assistance programs, law enforcement, county mental health
and private providers of local mental health services and mental
health outreach services, the Board of Corrections, the State
Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, local substance abuse
services providers, the Department of Rehabilitation, providers of
local employment services, the State Department of Social Services,
the Department of Housing and Community Development, a service
provider to transition youth, the United Advocates for Children of
California, the California Mental Health Advocates for Children and
Youth, the Mental Health Association of California, the California
Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the California Network of Mental
Health Clients, the Mental Health Planning Council, and other
appropriate entities.
   (4) The criteria for the award of grants shall include, but not be
limited to, all of the following:
   (A) A description of a comprehensive strategic plan for providing
outreach, prevention, intervention, and evaluation in a cost
appropriate manner corresponding to the criteria specified in
subdivision (c).
   (B) A description of the local population to be served, ability to
administer an effective service program, and the degree to which
local agencies and advocates will support and collaborate with
program efforts.
   (C) A description of efforts to maximize the use of other state,
federal, and local funds or services that can support and enhance the
effectiveness of these programs.
   (5) In order to reduce the cost of providing supportive housing
for clients, counties that receive a grant pursuant to this part
after January 1, 2004, shall enter into contracts with sponsors of
supportive housing projects to the greatest extent possible.
Participating counties are encouraged to commit a portion of their
grants to rental assistance for a specified number of housing units
in exchange for the counties' clients having the right of first
refusal to rent the assisted units.
   (b) In each year in which additional funding is provided by the
annual Budget Act the department shall establish programs that offer
individual counties sufficient funds to comprehensively serve
severely mentally ill adults who are homeless, recently released from
a county jail or the state prison, or others who are untreated,
unstable, and at significant risk of incarceration or homelessness
unless treatment is provided to them and who are severely mentally
ill adults. For purposes of this subdivision, "severely mentally ill
adults" are those individuals described in subdivision (b) of Section
5600.3. In consultation with the advisory committee established
pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), the department shall
report to the Legislature on or before May 1 of each year in which
additional funding is provided, and shall evaluate, at a minimum, the
effectiveness of the strategies in providing successful outreach and
reducing homelessness, involvement with local law enforcement, and
other measures identified by the department. The evaluation shall
include for each program funded in the current fiscal year as much of
the following as available information permits:
   (1) The number of persons served, and of those, the number who
receive extensive community mental health services.
   (2) The number of persons who are able to maintain housing,
including the type of housing and whether it is emergency,
transitional, or permanent housing, as defined by the department.
   (3) (A) The amount of grant funding spent on each type of housing.

   (B) Other local, state, or federal funds or programs used to house
clients.
   (4) The number of persons with contacts with local law enforcement
and the extent to which local and state incarceration has been
reduced or avoided.
   (5) The number of persons participating in employment service
programs including competitive employment.
   (6) The number of persons contacted in outreach efforts who appear
to be severely mentally ill, as described in Section 5600.3, who
have refused treatment after completion of all applicable outreach
measures.
   (7) The amount of hospitalization that has been reduced or
avoided.
   (8) The extent to which veterans identified through these programs'
outreach are receiving federally funded veterans' services for which
they are eligible.
   (9) The extent to which programs funded for three or more years
are making a measurable and significant difference on the street, in
hospitals, and in jails, as compared to other counties or as compared
to those counties in previous years.
   (10) For those who have been enrolled in this program for at least
two years and who were enrolled in Medi-Cal prior to, and at the
time they were enrolled in, this program, a comparison of their
Medi-Cal hospitalizations and other Medi-Cal costs for the two years
prior to enrollment and the two years after enrollment in this
program.
   (11) The number of persons served who were and were not receiving
Medi-Cal benefits in the 12-month period prior to enrollment and, to
the extent possible, the number of emergency room visits and other
medical costs for those not enrolled in Medi-Cal in the prior
12-month period.
   (c) To the extent that state savings associated with providing
integrated services for the mentally ill are quantified, it is the
intent of the Legislature to capture those savings in order to
provide integrated services to additional adults.
   (d) Each project shall include outreach and service grants in
accordance with a contract between the state and approved counties
that reflects the number of anticipated contacts with people who are
homeless or at risk of homelessness, and the number of those who are
severely mentally ill and who are likely to be successfully referred
for treatment and will remain in treatment as necessary.
   (e) All counties that receive funding shall be subject to specific
terms and conditions of oversight and training which shall be
developed by the department, in consultation with the advisory
committee.
   (f) (1) As used in this part, "receiving extensive mental health
services" means having a personal services coordinator, as described
in subdivision (b) of Section 5806, and having an individual personal
service plan, as described in subdivision (c) of Section 5806.
   (2) The funding provided pursuant to this part shall be sufficient
to provide mental health services, medically necessary medications
to treat severe mental illnesses, alcohol and drug services,
transportation, supportive housing and other housing assistance,
vocational rehabilitation and supported employment services, money
management assistance for accessing other health care and obtaining
federal income and housing support, accessing veterans' services,
stipends, and other incentives to attract and retain sufficient
numbers of qualified professionals as necessary to provide the
necessary levels of these services. These grants shall, however, pay
for only that portion of the costs of those services not otherwise
provided by federal funds or other state funds.
   (3) Methods used by counties to contract for services pursuant to
paragraph (2) shall promote prompt and flexible use of funds,
consistent with the scope of services for which the county has
contracted with each provider.
   (g) Contracts awarded pursuant to this part shall be exempt from
the Public Contract Code and the state administrative manual and
shall not be subject to the approval of the Department of General
Services.
   (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds awarded to
counties pursuant to this part and Part 4 (commencing with Section
5850) shall not require a local match in funds.
  SEC. 8.  No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for
certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district because, in that regard, this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
   However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.