Bill Text: CA AB193 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Mental health: conservatorship hearings.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Vetoed) 2016-01-15 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB193 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB193-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 193	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 22, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 28, 2015
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 14, 2015

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Maienschein
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Cooley, and Mathis)

                        JANUARY 28, 2015

   An act to amend Sections 5350.2, 5352, 5354, and 5360 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to conservatorships.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 193, as amended, Maienschein. Mental health: conservatorship
hearings.
   Existing law provides a procedure for the appointment of a
conservator for a person who is determined to be gravely disabled as
a result of a mental disorder or an impairment by chronic alcoholism
and requires an officer, including a county public guardian or a
county mental health program, to conduct a conservatorship
investigation and render a written report to the court of his or her
investigation. Under existing law, a professional person in charge of
an agency providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing
intensive treatment for a gravely disabled person may recommend a
conservatorship for that person, and the agency is required to
disclose any records or information that may facilitate an
investigation. Existing law requires the officer providing
conservatorship investigation, when he or she concurs with the
recommendation of the professional person or facility, to petition
the superior court in the patient's county of residence for a
conservatorship.  Existing law also provides for the
establishment of a conservatorship for a person who is unable to
properly provide for his or her personal needs or is substantially
unable to manage his or her finances. 
   This bill would authorize the court,  if a conservatorship has
already been established under the Probate Code and after a
hearing attended by the  proposed  conservatee or
the  proposed  conservatee's counsel, or both, to
recommend a conservatorship to the officer providing conservatorship
investigation if the court, in consultation with a  licensed
 physician  or psychologist, as specified,  providing
comprehensive evaluation or intensive treatment, in a 
conservatorship  proceeding  under the Probate Code
 determines, based on the evidence presented to the court,
including medical evidence, that  a person for whom a
conservatorship has been established   the conservatee
 may be gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or
impairment by chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or is
incapable of accepting, treatment voluntarily. The bill would also
require the court to appoint counsel to a  proposed 
conservatee if he or she cannot afford counsel. The bill would
require the officer providing conservatorship investigation to
petition the superior court in the patient's county of residence to
establish conservatorship if he or she concurs with the
recommendation of the court, and to file a copy of his or her report
with the court. The bill would require  an existing probate
  a  conservator, if conservatorship is recommended
by the court, to disclose any records or information that may
facilitate the investigation. The bill would also make conforming
changes.
   By expanding the duties of the county officer providing
conservatorship investigation, this bill would impose a
state-mandated local program.
   The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 5350.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   5350.2.  Reasonable attempts shall be made by the county mental
health program to notify family members, or any other person
designated  to receive notice  by the person for whom
conservatorship is sought, of the time and place of the
conservatorship hearing. The person for whom the conservatorship is
sought shall be advised by the facility treating the person, or by
the  probate court  in a proceeding  
under   the Probate Code,  if the recommendation was
made pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 5352, that he or she may
request that information about the time and place of the
conservatorship hearing not be given to family members if the
proposed conservator is not a family member. The request shall be
honored by the mental health program. Neither this section nor
Section 5350 shall be interpreted to allow the proposed conservatee
to request that any proposed conservator not be advised of the time
and place of the conservatorship hearing.
  SEC. 2.  Section 5352 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   5352.  (a) If the professional person in charge of an agency
providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive
treatment determines that a person in his or her care is gravely
disabled as a result of mental disorder or impairment by chronic
alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or incapable of accepting,
treatment voluntarily, he or she may recommend conservatorship 
of the person  to the officer providing conservatorship
investigation of the person's county of residence before admitting
the person as a patient in the facility.
   (b) The professional person in charge of an agency providing
comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive treatment
may recommend conservatorship for a person without the person being
an inpatient in the facility if both of the following conditions are
met:
   (1) The professional person or another professional person
designated by him or her has examined and evaluated the person and
determined that the person is gravely disabled.
   (2) The professional person or another professional person
designated by him or her has determined that future examination on an
inpatient basis is not necessary for a determination that the person
is gravely disabled.
   (c) (1)  The court,   If   a
conservatorship has already been established under the Probate Code,
the court, in a proceeding under the Probate Code,  after a
hearing attended by the  proposed  conservatee or
the  proposed  conservatee's counsel, or both, may
recommend a conservatorship  of the person  under this
chapter to the officer providing conservatorship investigation of the
person's county of residence if the court,  in a proceeding
under the Probate Code,  in consultation with a  licensed
 physician  or licensed psychologist satisfying the
conditions of subdivision (c) of Section 2032.020 of the Code of
Civil Procedure  providing comprehensive evaluation or intensive
treatment,  in a proceeding   under the
Probate Code  determines based on evidence presented to the
court, including medical evidence, that  a person for whom a
conservatorship has been established under the Probate Code
 the conservatee  may be gravely disabled as a result of a
mental disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism and is unwilling
to accept or is incapable of accepting treatment voluntarily. If the
 proposed  conservatee cannot afford counsel, the
 court   court, in a proceeding under the
Probate Code,  shall appoint counsel for him or her.
   (2) The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall file
a copy of his or her report with the court making the recommendation
in  the probate conservatorship.   a proceeding
under the Probate Code. 
   (d) If the officer providing conservatorship investigation concurs
with the recommendation of the professional person, pursuant to
subdivision (a) or (b), or the court, pursuant to subdivision (c), he
or she shall petition the superior court in the patient's county of
residence to establish conservatorship.
   (e) If temporary conservatorship is indicated, that fact shall be
alternatively pleaded in the petition. The officer providing
conservatorship investigation or other county officer or employee
designated by the county shall act as the temporary conservator.
  SEC. 3.  Section 5354 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   5354.  (a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
shall investigate all available alternatives to conservatorship and
shall recommend conservatorship to the court only if no suitable
alternatives are available. This officer shall render to the court a
written report of investigation  prior to  
before  the hearing. The report to the court shall be
comprehensive and shall contain all relevant aspects of the person's
medical, psychological, financial, family, vocational, and social
condition, and information obtained from the person's family members,
close friends, social worker, or principal therapist. The report
shall also contain all available information concerning the person's
real and personal property. The facilities providing intensive
treatment or comprehensive evaluation shall disclose any records or
information that may facilitate the investigation. If the
recommendation for conservatorship was made pursuant to subdivision
(c) of Section 5352, the  existing probate 
conservator  in a proceeding under the Probate Code  shall
disclose any records or information that may facilitate the
investigation. If the officer providing conservatorship investigation
recommends against conservatorship, he or she shall set forth all
alternatives available. A copy of the report shall be transmitted to
the individual who, or the  court   court, in a
proceeding under the Probate Code,  that, originally recommended
conservatorship, to the person or agency, if any, recommended to
serve as conservator, and to the person recommended for
conservatorship. The court may receive the report in evidence and may
read and consider the contents thereof in rendering its judgment.
   (b) Notwithstanding Section 5328, when a court with jurisdiction
over a person in a criminal case orders an evaluation of the person's
mental condition pursuant to Section 5200, and that evaluation leads
to a conservatorship investigation, the officer providing the
conservatorship investigation shall serve a copy of the report
required under subdivision (a) upon the defendant or the defendant's
counsel. Upon the prior written request of the defendant or the
defendant's counsel, the officer providing the conservatorship
investigation shall also submit a copy of the report to the court
hearing the criminal case, the district attorney, and the county
probation department. The conservatorship investigation report and
the information contained in that report, shall be kept confidential
and shall not be further disclosed to anyone without the prior
written consent of the defendant. After disposition of the criminal
case, the court shall place all copies of the report in a sealed
file, except as follows:
   (1) The defendant and the defendant's counsel may retain their
copy.
   (2) If the defendant is placed on probation status, the county
probation department may retain a copy of the report for the purpose
of supervision of the defendant until the probation is terminated, at
which time the probation department shall return its copy of the
report to the court for placement into the sealed file.
  SEC. 4.  Section 5360 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   5360.  (a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
shall recommend, in his or her report to the court, for or against
imposition of a disability set forth in Section 5357 on the basis of
the determination of the professional person who recommended
conservatorship pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 5352,
or the determination of the physician  or psychologist  who
presented medical evidence to the court pursuant to subdivision (c)
of Section 5352.
   (b) The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall
recommend in his or her report any of the additional powers of a
conservator set forth in Section 2591 of the Probate Code if the
needs of the individual patient or his estate require such powers. In
making this determination, the officer providing conservatorship
investigation shall consult with the professional person who
recommended conservatorship pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of
Section 5352, or the  determination of the 
physician  or psychologist  who presented medical evidence
to the court pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 5352.
  SEC. 5.  If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.