5675.3.
(a) Subject to the requirements of Section 5768, the County of Los Angeles may establish a pilot project for up to six years to develop a restorative care program for the provision of community-based care and treatment that addresses the interrelated and complex needs of those individuals suffering from mental illness and substance use disorder, along with other medical comorbidities, and homelessness. The program shall include, but not be limited to, services normally provided by mental health
rehabilitation centers, psychiatric health facilities, crisis residential treatment programs, and nonmedical residential alcohol and other drug treatment facilities. (b) The department, in consultation with the County of Los Angeles, may establish, by emergency regulations, the standards for the pilot project and shall review the pilot project in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 5768.
(c) In lieu of licensure or certification fees for a facility or program licensed or certified by the department as part of the pilot project, the department may require the County of Los Angeles to remit a fee in an amount not to exceed the reasonable administrative costs to the department associated with developing,
overseeing, and evaluating the pilot program.
(c)
(d) (1) The department, in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Director of Mental Health, shall report to the Legislature within two years of the commencement of operation of the initial facility authorized pursuant to this section regarding the progress and cost-effectiveness demonstrated by the pilot project. The report shall evaluate whether the pilot project is effective based on clinical indicators and is successful in preventing future placement of clients in jail, state hospitals, or
other institutional long-term facilities, and shall report whether the cost of care in the pilot facility is less than the cost of care in jail, state hospitals, or other institutional long-term facility options. The report shall include, but not be limited to, an evaluation of the selected method and the effectiveness of the pilot project staffing, number of clients served, types of services provided, and an analysis of the effectiveness of the pilot project at meeting all of the following objectives:
(A) Improved reintegration of individuals with mental illness or substance use disorder in the community with the need of outpatient care.
(B) Reduced incarceration and homelessness for individuals with mental illness or substance use disorder.
(C) Reduced length of hospital stays for individuals with mental illness or substance use disorder.
(2) The pilot project shall be deemed successful if it demonstrates both of the following:
(A) The cost of the pilot project is no greater than public expenditures for providing alternative services to the clients served by the pilot project.
(B) The benefits to the clients, as described in this subdivision, are improved by the pilot project.
(3) The report required by this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(d)
(e) The pilot project shall be subject to existing
department regulations applicable to licensed facilities that the department identifies and deems necessary for fire and life safety of persons with mental illness or alcohol or substance use disorder.
(e)
(f) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, clients served by the pilot project shall have all of the protections and rights guaranteed to mental health and substance use disorder patients.
(2) Clients shall have access to the services of a county patients’ rights advocate as provided in Chapter 6.2
(commencing with Section 5500) of Part 1.
(f)
(g) For purposes of this section, “restorative care program” means a program that provides a continuum of clinical care with integrated urgent care, residential, inpatient and outpatient behavioral health treatment, and recovery and supportive services designed to prevent those with serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or a combination of those conditions from experiencing incarceration, homelessness, or unnecessarily extended institutional care, and to promote successful reintegration into the community.
(g)
(h) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2026, and as of that date is repealed.