BILL NUMBER: AB 1969 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 17, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 3, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Steinberg
(Coauthor: Senator Perata)
FEBRUARY 18, 2000
An act to add Sections 4044.5 and 5908.5 to the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to mental health, and making an
appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1969, as amended, Steinberg. Mental health: housing.
Existing law requires the State Department of Mental Health, to
the extent resources are available, to provide program development
guidelines, evaluation models, and operational assistance on all
aspects of services to mentally ill persons, including housing
development.
Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2001, counties to
voluntarily participate in a pilot project for the operation of a
shared mental health rehabilitation center to provide community care
and treatment for persons with mental disorders who are placed in a
state hospital or another health facility. Existing law requires the
State Department of Mental Health to establish standards for the
pilot project.
Existing law provides for the regulation of health facilities,
including skilled nursing facilities, by the State Department of
Health Services. Existing law requires that the regulations adopted
by the department prescribe standards based on the type of health
facility and the needs of the persons served. In this regard, the
regulations set forth the requirements for a skilled nursing facility
to provide special treatment programs to serve certain mentally ill
patients.
This bill would require the State Department of Mental Health, in
conjunction with the State Department of Health Services (1) to
establish a long-term care mental health working group to develop a
specific plan for the development of certain long-term care
facilities that are able to provide diagnosis, treatment, and care of
persons with mental diseases and (2) to develop a state-level plan
for a single streamlined and consolidated
evaluation and monitoring program under one regulating
authority for the review of mental health rehabilitation
centers and skilled nursing facilities with special treatment
programs.
The bill would require the long-term care mental health working
group to provide a report with recommendations to the Legislature on
or before January 1, 2002.
The bill would require the State Department of Mental Health to
forward copies of any citations issued by the State Department
of Health Services to a skilled nursing facility that has a
special treatment program or to a mental health rehabilitation
center, to the county in which the skilled nursing facility or mental
health rehabilitation center is located.
Existing law sets forth procedures under which mental health
services in skilled nursing facilities designated as institutions for
mental disease are organized and financed.
This bill would require counties that contract for services from
institutions for mental disease to establish a designated clinical
quality support program, to the extent funds are made available from
the state.
The bill would appropriate an unspecified sum from the General
Fund to the State Department of Mental Health to be allocated to
county departments of mental health based on the total number of
clients placed in institutions for mental disease by each county.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares as follows:
(a) There is a nexus between homelessness among the seriously
mentally ill and adequate and affordable housing.
(b) Twenty-four-hour housing for the seriously mentally ill is a
continuum that includes the following alternatives:
(1) State hospital.
(2) Institute for mental disease.
(3) Mental health rehabilitation centers.
(4) Board and care.
(5) Supported living.
(6) Independent living.
(c) The monitoring of living situations for the seriously mentally
ill needs to include more than monitoring "bricks and mortar,"
square footage requirements, or local zoning regulations.
SEC. 2. Section 4044.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
4044.5. (a) (1) The State Department of Mental Health, in
conjunction with the State Department of Health Services, shall
establish a long-term care mental health working group that includes
representatives of county mental health programs, consumers, family
members of residents with mental disease who are in long-term care
facilities, and long-term care providers.
(2) The long-term care mental health working group shall develop a
specific plan for the development of long-term care facilities that
are able to provide diagnosis, treatment, and care of persons with
mental diseases, that are community-based, and serve no more than 16
persons. The plan shall include consideration of whether a new
licensure category is needed and the specific elements of monitoring
and evaluation that would be included in the development of a new
licensure category. The long-term care mental health working group
shall provide a report with recommendations to the Legislature on or
before January 1, 2002.
(b) The State Department of Mental Health, in conjunction with the
State Department of Health Services, shall develop a state-level
plan for a single streamlined and
consolidated evaluation and monitoring program under
one regulating authority for the review of mental health
rehabilitation centers and skilled nursing facilities with special
treatment programs. The plan shall provide for consolidated
reviews, reports, and penalties for these facilities. The plan
shall include the cost of, and a timeline for, implementing the
plan. The plan shall be developed in consultation with the long-term
care mental health working group established pursuant to subdivision
(a). The plan shall review resident safety and quality programming,
ensure that long-term care facilities engaged primarily in the
diagnosis, treatment, and care of persons with mental diseases are
available and appropriately evaluated, and ensure that strong
linkages are built to local communities and other treatment resources
for residents and their families. The plan shall be submitted to
the Legislature on or before March 1, 2001.
(c) (1) On or before July 1, 2001, the department shall
develop a mechanism that allows public access, including Internet
access, to information regarding the results of the reviews
conducted pursuant to subdivision (b) and related to any citations
issued to a skilled nursing facility described in subdivision (a) by
the State Department of Health Services or the State Department of
Social Services.
(d) updated and accurate information to the general
public and consumers regarding long-term care facilities licensed or
certified by the department, including mental health rehabilitation
centers and programs certified for a special treatment program. The
information shall include all of the following:
(A) Facility profiles, with data on services provided, and
ownership information. The profile for each facility shall include,
but shall not be limited to, all of the following:
(i) The name, address, and telephone number of the facility.
(ii) The number of units or beds in the facility.
(iii) Whether the facility accepts Medicare or Medi-Cal patients.
(iv) Whether the facility is a for-profit or not-for-profit
provider.
(B) Information regarding substantiated complaints, which shall
include the plan of correction, if any, and the date of the plan and
the status of the plan.
(C) Information regarding deficiencies found by the state in
regular or complaint-generated reviews, the status of the deficiency,
including the facility's plan of correction, and information as to
whether an appeal has been filed.
(D) Any appeal resolution pertaining to a citation or complaint,
which shall be updated on the file in a timely manner.
(d) The information shall include links for consumer access to
website information maintained by the State Department of Health
Services and to ombudsman services maintained by the state for
long-term care services.
(e) The State Department of Health Services shall forward
copies of citations issued to a skilled nursing facility that has a
special treatment program certified by the State Department of
Health Services Mental Health to the
State Department of Mental Health and the county in which
the facility or program is located.
(e) Health.
(f) The State Department of Mental Health shall forward
copies of citations issued by the State Department of Health
Services to a skilled nursing facility that has a special
treatment program, as described in Section 51335 and Sections 72443
to 72475, inclusive, of Title 22 of the California Code of
Regulations, or to the county in which the
skilled nursing facility is located. The department shall forward
copies of deficiencies found by the state in reviews of special
treatment programs for these facilities, the status of the
deficiency, and the facility's plan of correction, to the county in
which the facility is located. The department shall forward copies
of deficiencies found by the state, issued to a mental health
rehabilitation center, as described in Section 5675 of this code and
Section 781.00 and following of Title 9 of the California Code of
Regulations, to the county in which the skilled nursing
facility or mental health rehabilitation center is located.
SEC. 3. Section 5908.5 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
5908.5. To the extent designated funds are available from the
state to do so, counties that contract for services from any
institutions for mental disease shall establish a clinical quality
support program that includes the following elements:
(a) Regular visits by county clinical staff to assess the clinical
needs of residents of institutions for mental disease placed by the
county.
(b) Chart reviews by county clinical staff to ensure that the
clinical needs of the residents are met, including, but not limited
to, ancillary health care needs.
(c) Regular meetings with client case managers to assess service
needs and outcomes.
(d) Clinical case consultation as needed by staff or consulting
clinical staff of the institution for mental disease.
SEC. 4. There is hereby appropriated from the General Fund the sum
of ____ dollars ($____) from the General Fund to the State
Department of Mental Health to be allocated to county departments of
mental health based on the total number of clients placed in
institutions for mental disease by each county.