Bill Text: CA SB1238 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

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

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Bill Title: Lanterman-Petris-Short Act: designated facilities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-29 - April 29 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file. [SB1238 Detail]

Download: California-2023-SB1238-Introduced.html

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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 1238

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Introduced by Senator Eggman

February 15, 2024

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An act to amend Section 5121 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 1238, as introduced, Eggman. Mental health: involuntary treatment.

Existing law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, provides for the involuntary detention and treatment of persons with specified mental health disorders. Under the act, when a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is a danger to others, or to themselves, or gravely disabled, the person may, upon probable cause, be taken into custody and placed in a facility designated by the county and approved by the State Department of Health Care Services for up to 72 hours for evaluation and treatment. Existing law authorizes specified individuals, including professional persons designated by the county, to determine probable cause and take a person into custody pursuant to these provisions.

This bill would authorize a county to designate a professional who is not a county employee or not contracted by the county to perform the above-described functions.

Digest Key

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

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Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 Section 5121 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

5121.

 (a) The county behavioral health director may develop procedures for the county’s designation and training of professionals who will be designated to perform functions under Section 5150. These procedures may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) The license types, practice disciplines, and clinical experience of professionals eligible to be designated by the county.

(2) The initial and ongoing training and testing requirements for professionals eligible to be designated by the county.

(3) The application and approval processes for professionals seeking to be designated by the county, including the timeframe for initial designation and procedures for renewal of the designation.

(4) The county’s process for monitoring and reviewing professionals designated by the county to ensure appropriate compliance with state law, regulations, and county procedures.

(b) A county may designate a professional who is not a county employee or not contracted by the county to perform functions under Section 5150.

(b)

(c) A county behavioral health director may develop a training for the procedures for designation developed pursuant to subdivision (a).

(c)

(d) If a county behavioral health director denies or revokes an individual’s designation, the county behavioral health director shall, in writing, notify the person who made the request for designation of the individual and the individual who is the subject of the request for designation describing the reasons for denial or revocation.

(d)

(e) Designated members of a mobile crisis team and designated professional persons shall not be prohibited from transporting a person taken into custody pursuant to Section 5150.

(e)

(f) If the county behavioral health director of the County of Sacramento develops procedures pursuant to subdivision (a), the county behavioral health director of the County of Sacramento shall, by April 1, 2022, issue a written policy regarding the procedures developed pursuant to subdivision (a). The policy shall address, at a minimum, the topics identified in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a). The policy shall require the county behavioral health director of the County of Sacramento to designate individuals employed by the City of Sacramento who are also members of a mobile crisis team or who are also professional persons if all of the following are true:

(1) The City of Sacramento submits a written request to the county behavioral health director.

(2) The individuals meet the requirements for designation included in the policy.

(3) If the county behavioral health director of the County of Sacramento has developed a training pursuant to subdivision (b), the individuals have completed that training.