Mental health: State Department of State Hospitals.

Existing law provides for state hospitals for the care, treatment, and education of mentally disordered persons. These hospitals are under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Mental Health, which is authorized by existing law to adopt regulations regarding the conduct and management of these facilities. Existing law establishes the Mental Health Subaccount of the Sales Tax Account in the continuously appropriated Local Revenue Fund for allocation into the mental health account of each local health and welfare trust fund, as specified. Existing law establishes the Mental Health Facilities Fund, which consists of the continuously appropriated State Hospital Account and the continuously appropriated Institutions for Mental Disease Account, and requires disbursement monthly of funds deposited to those accounts to the State Department of Mental Health, as specified. This bill would, instead, establish the State Department of State Hospitals, would require state hospitals to be under the jurisdiction of that department, and would require the State Department of Health Care Services or the State Department of Social Services, as applicable, to perform specified duties instead of the State Department of Mental Health. This bill would provide that all regulations relating to state hospitals adopted by the State Department of Mental Health pursuant to authority transferred to the State Department of State Hospitals and in effect immediately preceding the operative date of this bill, shall remain in effect and be fully enforceable unless and until readopted, amended, or repealed by the Director of State Hospitals. This bill would specify the calculation for certain reimbursements for use of state hospital beds by counties that have not contracted with the State Department of State Hospitals, which are withheld from allocations from the Mental Health Subaccount of the Sales Tax Account in the Local Revenue Fund. This bill would require that funds deposited in the State Hospital Account be disbursed monthly to the State Department of State Hospitals and that funds deposited in the Institutions for Mental Disease Account be disbursed monthly to the State Department of Health Care Services. This bill would also make conforming changes and delete various obsolete provisions. Existing law prohibits a person from being tried or adjudged to punishment while the person is mentally incompetent. Existing law allows a county jail to be designated to provide medically approved medication to defendants found to be mentally incompetent and unable to provide informed consent due to a mental disorder upon the concurrence of the county board of supervisors, the county mental health director, and the county sheriff. Pursuant to these provisions, existing law also provides that a treatment facility for mentally incompetent defendants may include a county jail only for the sole purpose of administering antipsychotic medication pursuant to a court order, and provided the maximum period of time a defendant may be treated in a county jail treatment facility shall not exceed 6 months. Existing law provides that these provisions shall remain in effect until January 1, 2015, and as of that date are repealed. This bill would recast these provisions and make them operative until January 1, 2016. It would provide that a treatment facility includes a county jail without the limitation pertaining to administering antipsychotic medication pursuant to a court order. The bill would also delete an obsolete requirement that the State Department of Mental Health report to the Legislature regarding defendants that are incompetent to stand trial. Existing law provides that a trial or judgment shall be suspended until a person becomes mentally competent, and requires that a mentally incompetent defendant either be delivered to a state hospital, a treatment facility, or be placed on outpatient status. Prior to placement, existing law requires the court to order the community program director or designee to evaluate the defendant and submit a written recommendation to the court as to whether the defendant should be required to undergo outpatient treatment, or committed to a state hospital or to any other treatment facility. This bill would require the community program director or designee to evaluate the appropriate placement for the mentally disordered defendant to a state hospital or a local county jail treatment facility based on guidelines provided by the State Department of State Hospitals. The bill would require the State Department of State Hospitals to provide treatment at the county jail treatment facility and to reimburse the county jail treatment facility for the reasonable costs of the bed during the treatment. This bill would provide that the 6-month limitation on treatment in a county jail treatment facility shall not apply to these individuals. The bill would make an additional conforming change. Existing law authorizes, until September 2012, the State Department of Mental Health to house up to 1,530 patients at Patton State Hospital. Existing law provides that, until a permanent housing and treatment facility is available, Atascadero State Hospital shall be used whenever a sexually violent predator, as defined, is committed to a secure facility for mental health treatment, as prescribed. Existing law permits the State Department of Mental Health to place health facility beds at Coalinga State Hospital in suspense for a period of up to 6 years in providing programming to specified individuals using an outpatient/day treatment model. This bill would instead provide that Coalinga State Hospital shall be used when a sexually violent predator is committed to a secure facility for mental health treatment, and would instead provide that the State Department of State Hospitals may suspend health facility beds at Coalinga State Hospital in order to meet the mental health and medical needs of the patient population. This bill would extend the date the State Department of State Hospitals may house up to 1,530 patients at Patton State Hospital to September 2020. This bill would appropriate $1,000 to the State Department of Health Care Services for administration. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.