BILL NUMBER: SB 60 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Evans
DECEMBER 22, 2010
An act relating to mental health. An act
to amend Sections 7228 and 7301 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to mental health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 60, as amended, Evans. Mental health: worker and
patient safety state hospitals .
Existing law provides for state mental hospitals for the care,
treatment, and education of the mentally disordered, including Napa
State Hospital and Metropolitan State Hospital. These hospitals are
under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Mental Health.
Existing law authorizes the transfer of specified patients at a state
hospital for the mentally disordered who need care and treatment
under conditions of custodial security that can be better provided
within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to an
institution under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation.
This bill would prohibit a person who was transferred because he
or she, while housed in the state hospital, committed an act that
resulted in the death, rape, or life threatening injury of another
patient or a staff member of the state hospital, from being returned
to the state hospital until a court has determined in a hearing that
the person does not represent a substantial risk of harm to himself,
herself, or others. The bill would require the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation to make regular assessments of these
persons and would authorize the department to petition the court for
the return of the patient to a state hospital, as specified, if the
department determines that the person is not a threat to himself,
herself, or others.
Existing law, prior to admission to Napa State Hospital or the
Metropolitan State Hospital, requires the department to evaluate
patients committed under specified sections of the Penal Code.
Existing law requires a patient determined to be a high-security risk
to be treated in the department's most secure facilities.
This bill would require a risk evaluation, as specified, prior to
the commitment to any state hospital, of a patient who is being
committed pursuant to any provision of the Penal Code. The bill would
require a patient determined to be a high-security or violence risk
to be placed in a treatment unit within a state hospital,
correctional facility, state prison psychiatric facility, or other
secure facility with sufficient enhanced security and treatment
options to ensure the security of the patient, the other patients,
and the staff, and to appropriately provide treatment to address the
underlying causes of the risk, consistent with generally accepted
professional standards.
Under existing law the State Department of Mental Health has
jurisdiction over various state hospitals.
This bill would express the intent of the Legislature to enact
legislation that would address the safety of workers and patients in
state hospitals under the jurisdiction of the State Department of
Mental Health.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 7228 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code is amended to read:
7228. (a) Prior to admission to
the Napa State Hospital or the Metropolitan State Hospital
a state hospital , the State Department of Mental Health
shall evaluate each patient committed pursuant to Section
1026 or 1370 any section of the Penal Code
to determine that patient's security and violence risk. The risk
assessments shall be completed by both security and clinical personn
el and shall include a review of the patient's criminal
history, psychological factors, and incidents of aggression or
elopement since being incarcerated or committed . A
(b) A patient determined to be a
high security high-security or violence
risk pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be
treated in the department's most secure facilities
placed in a treatment unit within a state hospital, correctional
facility, state prison psychiatric facility, or other secure facility
with sufficient enhanced security and treatment options to ensure
the security of the patient, the other patients, and the staff, as
well as to appropriately provide treatment to address the underlying
causes of the risk, consistent with generally accepted professional
standards . A Penal Code patient
not needing this level of security shall be treated as near
to the patient's community as possible , if an
appropriate treatment program is available.
(c) The risk level of the patient shall be assessed at the time of
commitment, prior to any transfer, annually, and after any serious
security incident.
SEC. 2. Section 7301 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
7301. (a) Whenever, in the opinion of the
Director of Mental Health and with the approval of the Director of
Corrections and Rehabilitation , any
a person who has been committed to a state hospital
pursuant to provisions of the Penal Code , or who has been
placed in a state hospital temporarily for observation pursuant to,
or who has been committed to a state hospital pursuant to ,
Article 1 (commencing with Section 6300) of Chapter 2 of Part 2
of Division 6 of this code , needs care and treatment
under conditions of custodial security , which can be
better provided within the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation , such that person
may be transferred for such those
purposes from an institution under the jurisdiction of the State
Department of Mental Health to an institution under the jurisdiction
of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation .
(b) If a person is transferred pursuant to subdivision (a) because
he or she, while housed in the state hospital, committed an act that
resulted in the death, rape, or life threatening injury of another
patient or a staff member of the state hospital, the person shall not
be returned to the state hospital until a court has determined in a
hearing that the person does not represent a substantial risk of harm
to himself, herself, or others. After transfer to custodial care,
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall make regular
assessments as to whether the individual continues to represent a
substantial danger to himself, herself, or others such that the
individual cannot be returned to a state hospital. If the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation determines that the person no
longer represents a threat to himself, herself, or others, the
department may petition the court to return the patient to a state
hospital that has sufficient security in place to protect the
patient, other patients, and hospital staff.
Persons so
(c) A person transferred
pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not be subject to the
provisions of Section 4500, 4501, 4501.5, 4502, 4530, or 4531 of the
Penal Code. However, they he or she
shall be subject to the general rules of the Director of Corrections
and Rehabilitation and of the facility where they
are he or she is confined , and any
correctional employee dealing with such persons
that person during the course of an escape or attempted
escape, a fight , or a riot, shall have the same rights,
privileges and immunities as if the person transferred had been
committed to the Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation
.
Whenever
(d) Whenever a person is
transferred to an institution under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation pursuant to
this section, any report, opinion, or certificate required or
authorized to be filed with the court which
that committed such the person to
a state hospital, or ordered such the
person placed therein, shall be prepared and filed with the court by
the head of the institution in which the person is actually confined
or by the his or her designee
of such head .
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would address the safety of workers and
patients in state hospitals under the jurisdiction of the State
Department of Mental Health.