Mental Health Services Fund: county jails.

Existing law, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) , an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, funds a system of county mental health plans for the provision of mental health services. The MHSA establishes the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to oversee these provisions. The MHSA requires county mental health programs to develop plans for innovative programs and specifies the funding for those programs. The MHSA also requires each county to prepare and submit a 3-year program and expenditure plan, and annual updates, to the commission. The MHSA establishes the continuously appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county mental health programs. Existing law prohibits MHSA funds from being used to pay for persons incarcerated in state prison or parolees from state prisons. The MHSA authorizes its provisions to be amended by the Legislature by a 23 vote of the Legislature if the amendment is consistent with and furthers the intent of the act, and authorizes the Legislature to clarify procedures and terms of the act by majority vote. Existing law, the 2011 Realignment Legislation addressing public safety and related statutes, requires that certain specified felonies be punished by a term of imprisonment in a county jail, rather than the state prison, and provides for mandatory supervision, a period of suspended execution of a concluding portion of the sentence that is supervised by the county probation officer. This bill would establish the Jail-Based Community Mental Health Innovation Program (JBCMHIP) . The program would authorize up to 8 counties, including Orange County, with approval from the commission, to use MHSA funds to establish county JBCMHIPs to introduce innovative approaches to meet the mental health needs of persons in jail, including persons who have been convicted of a felony and sentenced to imprisonment in a county jail. The bill would prohibit a JBCMHIP from exceeding 5 years in duration. The bill would specify the duties of an approved county and would require an approved county to include the program in the county's 3-year MHSA plan or periodic updates. The bill would require the commission to ensure that a proposal meets certain requirements and to ensure certain geographic and demographic representation, as described. The bill would require, at the conclusion of the JBCMHIP, the commission to report to the Legislature on the outcomes achieved, as specified. The bill would set forth legislative findings and declarations and state the intent of the Legislature in enacting these provisions. By authorizing the use of continuously appropriated funds for new purposes, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would state the finding and declaration of the Legislature that this change is consistent with and furthers the intent of the act.