BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair


          AB 2399 (Allen) - Mental health: state hospitals: injury and 
          illness prevention.
          
          Amended: April 9, 2012          Policy Vote: Health 8-1
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: August 16, 2012                          
          Consultant: Brendan McCarthy    
          
          SUSPENSE FILE.  AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
          
          
          Bill Summary:  AB 2399 requires each state hospital to update 
          its injury and illness prevention plan at least once per year, 
          establish a committee to recommend updates to the plan, and to 
          develop an incident reporting system for assaults on employees.

          Fiscal Impact: 

              Unknown, likely minor costs to update plans and report data 
              on incidents (General Fund).

          Background:  Under current law, the Department of Mental Health 
          oversees five state hospitals. Over time, the population at the 
          state hospitals has shifted to mostly a "forensic" population, 
          made up of former prison inmates with mental health issues or 
          individuals with criminal histories that have been committed to 
          state hospitals.

          In 2010, the Department reported that there was an average of 23 
          incidents of violence per day towards patients and employees in 
          state hospitals.
          
          Current law requires every California employer to develop and 
          implement an injury and illness prevention plan.

          Proposed Law:  AB 2399 would require state hospitals to take 
          several actions with regard to injury and illness preventions 
          plans and the reporting of incidents. 

          Specifically, the bill would:
              Require state hospitals to update injury and illness 
              prevention plans at least once per year, and specifies the 








          AB 2399 (Allen)
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              information that must be addressed in the plan.
              Require the Department to submit the plans to the 
              Legislature.
              Require each state hospital to establish an advisory 
              committee to provide input on the plan.
              Require each state hospital to develop an incident 
              reporting system that can be used to report on patient 
              assaults on employees and identified risks of patient 
              assaults on employees.
              Require hospitals to provide timely responses to incidents 
              reported.

          Related Legislation:  AB 2531 (Allen) would permit state 
          hospitals to develop lists of items that are contraband within 
          the state hospital. That bill will be heard in this committee.

          Staff Comments:  Under current practice the state hospitals have 
          differing systems and/or processes for tracking and reporting 
          incidents of violence within the state hospitals. Overall, the 
          Department does not have any kind of system-wide information 
          technology system that could be used to meet the requirements of 
          this bill. The Department is currently in the process of 
          developing a Department-wide system for payroll and 
          administrative purposes. The estimated cost to develop that 
          system is about $4 million.


          The proposed author's amendments would narrow the requirement on 
          the Department to develop a system for reporting incidents.