Bill Text: CA SB40 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

California Senate Bill 40 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Conservatorship: serious mental illness and substance use disorders.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2019-10-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 467, Statutes of 2019. [SB40 Detail]

Download: California-2019-SB40-Introduced.html

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 40

Introduced by Senator Wiener

December 03, 2018

An act to amend Section 5450 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 40, as introduced, Wiener. Conservatorship: serious mental illness and substance use disorders.

Existing law establishes a procedure for the appointment of a conservator for a person who is incapable of caring for the person’s own health and well-being due to a serious mental illness and substance use disorder, as specified, for the purpose of providing the least restrictive and most clinically appropriate alternative needed for the protection of the person. Existing law authorizes that conservatorship procedure only for the County of Los Angeles, the County of San Diego, and the City and County of San Francisco, if the board of supervisors of the respective county or city and county authorizes the application of these provisions subject to specified findings and requirements, including that certain county departments develop a plan to implement these provisions, as specified, and present the plan and available resources for the implementation before the county board of supervisors.

This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to those provisions.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 5450 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

5450.

(a) Until January 1, 2024, this chapter shall apply only to the County of Los Angeles, the County of San Diego, and the City and County of San Francisco if the board of supervisors of the respective county or city and county, by resolution or through the county budget process, authorizes the application of this chapter and makes a finding that no voluntary mental health program serving adults, no children’s mental health program, and no services or supports provided in conservatorships established pursuant to Division 4 (commencing with Section 1400) of the Probate Code or conservatorships established pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 5350), including availability of conservators, may be reduced as a result of the implementation of this chapter.

(b) (1) Before the county board of supervisors may authorize the application of this chapter, the county mental health department, the county welfare department, and, if one exists, the county department of housing and homeless services shall do both of the following:

(A) Develop a plan to implement this chapter in consultation with representatives of disability rights advocacy groups, a provider of permanent supportive housing services, the county health department, law enforcement, labor unions, and staff from hospitals located in the county or the city and county.

(B) Present before the county board of supervisors on the plan and available resources for the implementation of this chapter.

(2) In order to approve authorization of the application of this chapter, the county board of supervisors shall determine, after a public hearing, based on materials presented, that all of the following services are available in, at a minimum, sufficient quantity, resources, and funding levels to serve the identified population that the county board of supervisors intends to serve, within the county or city and county for utilization in connection with the application of this chapter:

(A) Supportive community housing that provides wraparound services, with adequate beds available.

(B) Public conservators trained on the specifics of how to assess and evaluate individuals for the new form of conservatorship described in this chapter.

(D) Coordination and access to medications.

(E) Psychiatric and psychological services.

(F) Substance use disorder services.

(G) Vocational rehabilitation.

(H) Veterans’ services.

(I) Family support and consultation services.

(J) A service planning and delivery process that includes all of the following:

(i) Plans for services that contain evaluation strategies, which shall consider cultural, linguistic, gender, sexual orientation, age, and special needs of minorities and those based on any characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 of the Government Code 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 as a result of having limited-English-speaking ability or cultural differences.

(ii) Provision for services to meet the needs of persons who are physically disabled.

(iii) Provision for services to meet the special needs of older adults.

(iv) Provision for family support and consultation services, parenting support and consultation services, and peer support or self-help group support, if appropriate.

(v) Provision for services to be client-directed and to employ psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery principles.

(vi) Provision for psychiatric and psychological services that are integrated with other services and for psychiatric and psychological collaboration in overall service planning.

(vii) Provision for services reflecting special needs of women from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

(viii) Provision for housing for clients that is immediate, transitional, permanent, or all of these.

(ix) Provision for services reflecting special needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.

(K) The individual personal services plan ensures that a person subject to conservatorship pursuant to this chapter receives age-appropriate, gender-appropriate, disability-appropriate, and culturally appropriate services, to the extent feasible and when appropriate, that are designed to enable those persons to do all of the following:

(i) 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~~ children, as is appropriate.

(ii) Engage in the highest level of work or productive activity appropriate to their abilities and experience.

(iii) Create and maintain a support system consisting of friends, family, and participation in community activities.

(iv) Access an appropriate level of academic education or vocational training.

(v) Obtain an adequate income.

(vi) Self-manage their illnesses and exert as much control as possible over both the day-to-day and long-term decisions that affect their lives.

(vii) Access necessary physical health benefits and care and maintain the best possible physical health.

(viii) Reduce or eliminate the distress caused by the symptoms of mental illness.

(3) The county or the city and county shall not seek to conserve any individual pursuant to this chapter unless there is funding and available resources to provide all of the services set forth in paragraph (2).