MHAC Priority Legislation

MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Rodriguez

Date: 09/27/2022

Mental health: Office of Suicide Prevention: Existing law authorizes the State Department of Public Health to establish the Office of Suicide Prevention within the department. Existing law authorizes the office to perform certain functions including, but not limited to, conducting state-level assessment of regional and statewide suicide prevention policies and practices and reporting on progress to reduce rates of suicide. This bill would authorize the office to additionally conduct local-level assessments of regional suicide prevention policies and practices, and would include emergency medical personnel and firefighters as a high- risk group. Existing law requires the office to consult with the MHSOAC to implement suicide prevention efforts. This bill would require the office to consult with the Office of Emergency Services to implement suicide prevention efforts for emergency medical personnel and firefighters throughout the states’ municipal fire service agencies and fire districts, and to solicit proposals for, and to contract for, an evidence-based curriculum to establish behavioral health peer-support programs for emergency medical personnel, local fire service agencies, and fire districts.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Carrillo

Date: 09/19/2022

Status: Passed

Pupil mental health: mental health assistance posters: This bill would require on or before the start of the 2023-24 school year, each schoolsite serving pupils in grades 6 to 12 must create a poster that identifies approaches and shares resources regarding pupil mental health. Each poster would be at least 8.5 by 11 inches and must include identification of common behaviors of those struggling with mental health, a list of schoolsite-specific resources, a list of positive coping strategies to use, and a list of negative coping strategies to avoid. The bill would require the poster to be prominently and conspicuously displayed at each schoolsite. The poster shall also be digitized and distributed online to pupils through social media, internet websites,portals, and learning platforms.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Stone

Date: 06/24/2021

Status: Died

Foster youth: children’s crisis continuum pilot program: This bill would require DSS, in collaboration with DHCS and with input from certain stakeholders to establish a 5-year Children’s Crisis Continuum Pilot Program (CCC Pilot Program) for the purpose of developing treatment options needed to support California’s commitment to eliminate the placement of foster youth with complex needs in out-of-state facilities. Requires a participating entity to develop and implement a highly integrated continuum of care for foster youth with high acuity mental health needs, with specified services. The continuum of care must include: 1) a crisis stabilization unit; 2) a crisis residential program; 3) an inpatient psychiatric health facility; 4) intensive services foster care with integrated specialty mental health services; 5) community-based supportive services available 24/7

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Waldron

Date: 04/12/2024

This bill would require the California Health and Human Services Agency to convene a workgroup to study and make recommendations on the establishment of a framework governing psychedelic-assisted therapy, as defined. The bill would require that workgroup to send a report to the Legislature containing those recommendations on or before January 1, 2026. The bill would, contingent upon the Legislature enacting a framework governing psychedelic-assisted therapy,  authorize the lawful use of hallucinogenic or psychedelic substances for psychedelic-assisted therapy.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Irwin

Date: 04/12/2024

This bill would revise the definition of “psychiatric emergency medical condition” to make that definition applicable regardless of whether the patient is voluntary, or is involuntarily detained for evaluation and treatment. treatment, under prescribed circumstances. The bill would make conforming changes to provisions requiring facilities to provide that treatment. The bill would require the Medi-Cal program to cover emergency services and care necessary to treat an emergency medical condition, as defined, including all professional physical, mental, and substance use treatment services, including screening examinations necessary to determine the presence or absence of an emergency medical condition and, if an emergency medical condition exists, for all services medically necessary to stabilize the beneficiary. The bill would require coverage, including by a Medi-Cal managed care plan, for emergency services necessary to relieve or eliminate a psychiatric emergency medical condition, regardless of duration, or whether the beneficiary is voluntary, or involuntarily detained for evaluation and treatment, including emergency room professional services. services, as specified.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Quirk-Silva

Date: 04/12/2024

This bill would authorize counties to also establish mental health multidisciplinary personnel team, as defined, with the goal of facilitating the expedited identification, assessment, and linkage of justice-involved persons diagnosed with a mental illness to supportive services within that county while incarcerated and upon release from county jail and to allow provider agencies and members of the personnel team to share confidential information, as specified, for the purpose of coordinating supportive services to ensure continuity of care. The bill would require the sharing of information permitted under these provisions to be governed by protocols developed in each county, as specified, and would require each county to provide a copy of its protocols to the State Department of Social Services. This bill would authorize the mental health multidisciplinary personnel team to designate qualified persons to be a member of the team for a particular case and would require every member who receives information or records regarding justice-involved persons, as defined, in their capacity as a member of the team to be under the same privacy and confidentiality obligations and subject to the same confidentiality penalties as the person disclosing or providing the information or records. The bill would also require the information or records to be maintained in a manner that ensures the maximum protection of privacy and confidentiality rights.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Bryan

Date: 02/07/2022

Status: Died

Reentry housing and workforce development program: Upon appropriation, this bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to create the Reentry Housing and Workforce Development Program, and would require the department to take specified actions to provide grants to applicants for innovative or evidence-based housing, housing-based services, and employment interventions to allow people with recent histories of incarceration to exit homelessness and remain stably housed.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Levine

Date: 08/29/2022

Status: Vetoed

Mental health services: This bill would require a health care service plan or a health insurance policy that includes coverage for mental health services to, among other things, approve the provision of mental health services for persons who are detained for 72-hour treatment and evaluation under the LPS Act and to schedule an initial outpatient appointment for that person with a licensed mental health professional on a date within 48 hours of the person’s release from detention.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Ward

Date: 09/25/2022

Status: Passed

Substance abuse treatment: certification: Existing law requires DHCS to require that a person providing counseling services within alcoholism or drug abuse recovery be registered with or certified by a certifying organization approved by the department. This requirement discourages qualified graduate student interns participating in supervised internships affiliated with graduate university programs in psychology, social work, marriage and family therapy, or counseling from working in SUD treatment programs by also requiring them to register with a certifying organization as if they were on the career path to become a certified SUD counselor. This bill would change statute to allow these qualified graduate student interns to complete their supervised internships at SUD treatment programs.

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Related Documents

• Bill Fact Sheet
• Template Support Letter

MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Pellerin

Date: 04/12/2024

Existing law requires the department to establish the California Child and Family Service Review System, in order to review all county child welfare systems, including child protective services, foster care, adoption, family preservation, family support, and independent living. Existing law requires the California Health and Human Services Agency to convene a workgroup, as prescribed, to establish a work plan by which child and family service reviews shall be conducted. Existing law requires the workgroup to consider, among other things, measurable outcome indicators, which shall be consistent with specified federal measures and standards. This bill would require the outcome indicators to include data from the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) assessment tool.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Ward

Date: 04/12/2024

Existing law establishes the State Department of Education in state government, and vests the department with specified powers and duties relating to the state’s public school system, including encouraging and assisting school districts to improve and monitor the health of their pupils. Existing law requires the department, as part of that assistance, to provide information and guidance to schools that request the information and guidance to establish “Health Days” to provide screenings for common health problems among pupils.This bill would require the department to include county offices of education and charter schools in the above-described provisions. The bill would require the department to encourage school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to participate in programs that offer reimbursement for school-based health services and school-based mental health services, as provided.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Jackson

Date: 04/12/2024

This bill would, commencing July 1, 2025, establish, until June 30, 2028, the Black Mental Health Navigator Certification Pilot Program, to be administered by the State Department of Health Care Services, to provide comprehensive training in mental health resources and awareness, as specified. This bill would require the department to collect specific data and submit a report to the Legislature and the relevant policy committees on or before December 31, 2028. The bill would make those provisions contingent upon appropriation and would repeal those provisions on January 1, 2030.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Davies

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would require an operator of a licensed alcoholism or drug abuse recovery or treatment facility or certified alcohol or other drug program to include a disclosure on its internet website if a legal, disciplinary, or other enforcement action has been brought by the department and the facility or program was determined to be in violation. The bill would require the internet website disclosure to include the date and nature of the violation. The bill would impose a $2,500 civil penalty for failure to comply with the internet website posting requirement.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Haney

Date: 04/18/2024

This bill would authorize a nonprofit or free clinic to dispense a narcotic drug for the purpose of relieving acute withdrawal symptoms while arrangements are being made for referral for treatment, as described, and would require the clinic dispensing the narcotic to be subject to specified labeling and recordkeeping requirements. Because the bill would specify additional requirements under the Pharmacy Law, a violation of which would be a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program.

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MHAC Position: Watch

Author: Weber

Date: 04/18/2024

Existing law makes various references to the descriptive terms “persons with a mental health disorder,” “minors with a mental health condition,” and “children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbance” in various provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code.This bill would make conforming changes to these provisions for consistency with those descriptor terms to, among other things, put the person first. The bill would also make other technical changes.

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