BILL NUMBER: AB 1969 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 25, 2000
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 8, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 26, 2000
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 streamlined and consolidated evaluation and monitoring program
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 $3,000,000 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 majority .
Appropriation: yes no . 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 streamlined and consolidated evaluation and monitoring
program 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
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.
However, the address of any facility that serves six or fewer persons
shall not be posted on the Internet.
(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.
(2) 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.
(3) The State Department of Mental Health shall, in consultation
with the State Department of Health Services, ensure that the public
access mechanism, including Internet access, specified in this
subdivision:
(A) Does not duplicate unnecessarily data contained in any public
access data system, including Internet access, established by the
State Department of Health Services that contains licensing and
certification data on health facilities.
(B) Provides links between any public access mechanisms
established by the two departments and posted on the Internet when
those links would reduce confusion for members of the public using
the mechanisms.
(d) 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 Mental Health
to the State Department of Mental Health.
(e) 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, 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 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 three million dollars ($3,000,000) 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.