Bill Text: CA AB1725 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Conservatorship hearings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-05-23 - In committee: Set, second hearing. Held under submission. [AB1725 Detail]
Download: California-2013-AB1725-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 1725 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Maienschein
FEBRUARY 14, 2014
An act to amend Sections 5350.2 and ,
5352 , 5354, and 5360 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to mental health.
conservatorships.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1725, as amended, Maienschein. Mental health:
conservatorship hearings for the gravely disabled.
Conservatorship hearings.
Existing law provides a procedure for the appointment of a
conservator for a person who is determined to be gravely disabled as
a result of a mental disorder or an impairment by chronic alcoholism
and requires an officer, including a county public guardian or a
county mental health program, to conduct a conservatorship
investigation. investigation and render a written
report to the court of his or her investigation. Under existing
law, a professional person in charge of an agency providing
comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive treatment
for a gravely disabled person may recommend a conservatorship for
that person , and the agency is required to disclose
any records or information that may facilitate an investigation
. Existing law requires the officer providing conservatorship
investigation, when he or she concurs with the recommendation of
the professional person or facility , to petition the superior
court in the patient's county of residence for a conservatorship.
This bill would include a person who is gravely disabled
as a result of substance abuse as a person for whom a conservatorship
may be requested and granted. This bill would also provide a
procedure for a family member or interested person who believes a
conservatorship is necessary to petition the probate court to
establish a conservatorship, as specified. This bill would also
authorize the court, after a hearing attended by the
proposed conservatee or the proposed conservatee's c
ounsel, or both , to recommend a conservatorship to the officer
providing conservatorship investigation when the court, in a
conservatorship established proceeding
under the Probate Code, determines , based on evidence presented
to the court, including medical evidence, that a person, for
whom a conservatorship has been established under the Probate Code,
may be gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or
impairment by chronic alcoholism or substance abuse
and is unwilling to accept, or is incapable of
accepting , treatment voluntarily. This bill would
also require the court to appoint counsel to a proposed conse
rvatee if he or she cannot afford counsel. This
bill would require the officer providing conservatorship
investigation to petition the superior court in the patient's
county of residence to establish conservatorship if he or she concurs
with the recommendation of the court, and to file a copy of
his or her report with the court within 30 days of the court's
recommendation. This bill would require an existing probate
conservator, if conservatorship is recommended by the court, to
disclose any records or information that may facilitate the
investigation. This bill would also make conf orming
changes.
By expanding the duties of the county officer providing
conservatorship investigation, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 5350.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
5350.2. Reasonable attempts shall be made by the county mental
health program , or the petitioning party, to
notify family members or any other person designated by the person
for whom conservatorship is sought, of the time and place of the
conservatorship hearing. The person for whom the conservatorship is
sought shall be advised by the facility treating the person , or
by the probate court if the recommendation was made pursuant to
subdivision (c) of Section 5352, that he or she may request
that information about the time and place of the conservatorship
hearing not be given to family members, in those circumstances where
the proposed conservator is not a family member. The request shall be
honored by the mental health program. Neither this section nor
Section 5350 shall be interpreted to allow the proposed conservatee
to request that any proposed conservator not be advised of the time
and place of the conservatorship hearing.
SEC. 2. Section 5352 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
5352. (a) When the professional person in charge of an agency
providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive
treatment determines that a person in his or her care is gravely
disabled as a result of mental disorder or impairment by chronic
alcoholism or substance abuse and is unwilling to
accept, or incapable of accepting, treatment voluntarily, he or she
may recommend conservatorship to the officer providing
conservatorship investigation of the person's county of residence
prior to admitting him or her the person
as a patient in the facility.
(b) The professional person in charge of an agency providing
comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive treatment
may recommend conservatorship for a person without the person being
an inpatient in the facility , if both of the
following conditions are met:
(1) The professional person or another professional person
designated by him or her has examined and evaluated the person and
determined that he or she the person is
gravely disabled.
(2) The professional person or another professional person
designated by him or her has determined that future examination on an
inpatient basis is not necessary for a determination that the person
is gravely disabled.
(c) If the officer providing conservatorship investigation concurs
with the recommendation of the professional person, he or she shall
petition the superior court in the patient's county to establish
conservatorship. If the officer providing conservatorship
investigation does not initiate conservatorship proceedings, but a
family member or interested person believes a conservatorship is
necessary, the family member or interested person may petition the
Probate Court under this chapter for the establishment of a
conservatorship if the following conditions have been met:
(1) The professional person in charge of an agency providing
comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive treatment
has examined and evaluated the person and determined that he or she
is gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or impairment by
chronic alcoholism or substance abuse and is unwilling to accept, or
incapable of accepting, voluntary treatment.
(2) The professional person has recommended a conservatorship to
the officer providing conservatorship investigation in the county of
residence.
(3) The officer providing the investigation has made a report, but
declines to initiate conservatorship proceedings.
(d)
( c) (1) The court, after a hearing
attended by the proposed conservatee or the proposed conservatee's
counsel, or both , may recommend a conservatorship under this
chapter to the officer providing conservatorship investigation of the
person's county of residence when the court in a conservatorship
established proceeding under the
Probate Code determines based on evidence presented to the court
, including medical evidence that a person, for
whom a conservatorship has been established under the Probate Code,
may be gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or
impairment by chronic alcoholism or substance abuse
and is unwilling to accept, or is incapable of
accepting , treatment voluntarily. If the proposed
conservatee cannot afford counsel, the court shall appoint counsel
for him or her.
(2) Within 30 days after the recommendation, the officer providing
conservatorship investigation shall file a copy of his or her report
with the court making the recommendation in the Probate
probate conservatorship.
(d) If the officer providing conservatorship investigation concurs
with the recommendation of the professional person, pursuant to
subdivision (a) or (b), or the court, pursuant to subdivision (c), he
or she shall petition the superior court in the patient's county of
residence to establish conservatorship.
(e) Where temporary conservatorship is indicated, that fact shall
be alternatively pleaded in the petition. The officer providing
conservatorship investigation or other county officer or employee
designated by the county shall act as the temporary conservator.
SEC. 3. Section 5354 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
5354. The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall
investigate all available alternatives to conservatorship and shall
recommend conservatorship to the court only if no suitable
alternatives are available. This officer shall render to the court a
written report of investigation prior to the hearing. The report to
the court shall be comprehensive and shall contain all relevant
aspects of the person's medical, psychological, financial, family,
vocational and social condition, and information obtained from the
person's family members, close friends, social worker or principal
therapist. The report shall also contain all available information
concerning the person's real and personal property. The facilities
providing intensive treatment or comprehensive evaluation shall
disclose any records or information which
that may facilitate the investigation. If the
recommendation for conservatorship was made pursuant to subdivision
(c) of Section 5352, the existing probate conservator shall disclose
any records or information that may facilitate the investigation.
If the officer providing conservatorship investigation
recommends against conservatorship, he or she shall set forth all
alternatives available. A copy of the report shall be transmitted to
the individual who , or the court that, originally
recommended conservatorship, to the person or agency, if any,
recommended to serve as conservator, and to the person recommended
for conservatorship. The court may receive the report in evidence and
may read and consider the contents thereof in rendering its
judgment.
SEC. 4. Section 5360 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
5360. (a) The officer providing
conservatorship investigation shall recommend, in his or her
report to the court, for or against imposition of a disability
set forth in Section 5357 on the basis of the determination of the
professional person who recommended conservatorship pursuant to
subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 5352 or the determination
of the physician who presented medical evidence to the court
pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 5352 .
The
(b) The officer providing
conservatorship investigation shall recommend in his or her
report any of the additional powers of a conservator set forth
in Section 2591 of the Probate Code if the needs of the individual
patient or his or her estate require such powers. In
making such determination, the officer providing conservatorship
investigation shall consult with the professional person who
recommended conservatorship pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b)
of Section 5352 or the determination of the physician who
presented medical evidence to the court pursuant to subdivision (c)
of Section 5352 .
SEC. 3. SEC. 5. If the Commission on
State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by
the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section
17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
