Bill Text: CA AB826 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended

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

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Bill Title: Medi-Cal: managed care plan tax: Healthy Families

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 11-6)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2012-08-27 - Read second time. Ordered to third reading. Re-referred to Com. on RLS. pursuant to Senate Rule 29.10(c). [AB826 Detail]

Download: California-2011-AB826-Amended.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 826	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JUNE 21, 2011
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Atkins
    (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members 
 Ammiano,   Fong,   and Yamada   )


                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

    An act to amend Section 50408 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to housing.   An act to add Article 5
(commencing with Section 2985) to Chapter 7 of Title 1 of Part 3 of
the Penal Code, relating to parolees. 


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 826, as amended, Atkins.  Department of Housing and
Community Development: annual report.   Parolees:
mentally ill: services.  
   Existing law requires that certain mentally disordered prisoners,
as a condition of parole, be treated by the State Department of
Mental Health, as provided. Existing law authorizes the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation to obtain day treatment, and to
contract for crisis care services, for parolees with mental health
problems.  
   This bill would authorize the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation to create an Integrated Services for Mentally Ill
Parolees program, a comprehensive model that provides varied levels
of care, supportive and transitional housing, and an array of mental
health rehabilitative services that assist with the development of
independent living in the least restrictive environment possible and
report to the Legislature, as provided. The bill would require that
specified services be provided to qualified mentally ill parolees by
department selected providers, as provided.  
   The bill would require each services provider to report to the
department on the outcomes of services and requires the department to
file an annual report with the chairpersons of specified legislative
committees.  
   The bill would provide that its provisions shall only be operative
when the Legislature appropriates moneys in the Budget Act for each
fiscal year.  
   Existing law requires the Department of Housing and Community
Development, on or before December 31 of each year, to submit an
annual report to the Governor and both houses of the Legislature
containing specified information relating to the operations and
accomplishments of the housing programs administered by the
department.  
   This bill would additionally require the department to include in
its annual report specified cumulative totals for each program funded
under the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Acts of 2002 and
2006. 
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

   SECTION 1.    The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:  
   (a) Almost 20,000 Californians with mental illness are currently
on parole. An average of 3,500 of these parolees are homeless.
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation data indicates one-third
to one-half of all parolees living in major cities, like San
Francisco and Los Angeles, are homeless.  
   (b) Each year, over 6,000 parolees suffering from serious mental
illness return to prison, often due to technical violations of parole
conditions or criminal behavior resulting from mental illness. 

   (c) Many of these parolees are homeless. Homeless parolees have
difficulties taking medications regularly, accessing appropriate
health and behavioral health treatment, eating a healthy diet,
sleeping regularly, and maintaining sobriety. As a result of these
factors, homeless parolees are seven times more likely to recidivate
than parolees who are housed.  
   (d) The success of efforts to stabilize a parolee's health and
reduce recidivism rates is predicated on the parolee's housing
stability.  
   (e) Parolees often lack identification when released, causing
difficulties for these parolees to access housing, work, and other
income sources.  
   (f) Supportive housing and housing affordable to the tenant that
links tenants to health, single point of contact case management,
behavioral health, transportation, and other services create
long-term savings, enhance public safety, and increase a neighborhood'
s property values. Most importantly, data show supportive housing
reduces recidivism among parolees.  
   (g) The Mental Health Services Act, Proposition 63, as approved at
the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, like its
predecessor, Assembly Bill 2034 of the 1999-2000 Regular Session of
the Legislature, provides a full array of services, including
supportive housing, to nonparolees with serious mental illness and,
in so doing, has reduced risk of arrest by 56 percent among
participants. Parolees are not eligible for Proposition 63 services.
 
   (h) Due to the exclusion of parolees from Proposition 63 services,
budget measures over the last four years have included funding for
the Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees (ISMIP) program at
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The ISMIP program
offers opportunities to provide comprehensive mental health and
supportive services, including housing, to parolees with mental
illness at risk of homelessness upon release, to reintegrate
offenders at risk of homelessness into the community, to increase
public safety, and to reduce state costs of recidivism. These
services should be comparable to services available pursuant to
Section 5806 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. 
   SEC. 2.    Article 5 (commencing with Section 2985)
is added to Chapter 7 of Title 1 of Part 3 of the   Penal
Code   , to read:  

      Article 5.  Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees


   2985.  (a) Pursuant to the provisions of Section 3073, the
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is authorized to create
an Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees (ISMIP) program.
   (b) The "Integrated Services for Mentally Ill Parolees" or "ISMIP"
program is a comprehensive model that provides varied levels of
care, supportive and transitional housing, and an array of mental
health rehabilitative services that assist with the development of
independent living in the least restrictive environment possible.
   (c) (1) An inmate is eligible for ISMIP participation and shall
qualify for the program if all of the following are applicable:
   (A) He or she participates in the Enhanced Outpatient Program, the
Correctional Clinical Case Management System, or receives a higher
level of mental health care while in prison.
   (B) The inmate voluntarily chooses to participate in the ISMIP
program.
   (C) He or she is assigned a date of release within 60 to 180 days.

   (2) The department shall prioritize for participation in ISMIP
inmates designated as eligible for the Enhanced Outpatient Program
and who are likely to become homeless upon release, as defined in
paragraph (3). Afterwards, the department shall give priority to
inmates participating in the Correctional Clinical Case Management
System and who are likely to become homeless upon release, as defined
in paragraph (3). Once participants likely to become homeless are
served, the department shall prioritize, for ISMIP participation, all
other Enhanced Outpatient Program then Correctional Clinical Case
Management System participants.
   (3) Parolees who are "likely to become homeless upon release" are
individuals who have a history of homelessness and who satisfy either
of the following:
   (A) Lacking an identified fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
residence for release.
   (B) His or her only identified nighttime residence for release
includes a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed
to provide temporary living accommodations, or a public or private
place not designed for, or is not ordinarily used as, a regular
sleeping accommodation for human beings.
   (d) To implement this article, the department shall contract with
ISMIP service providers that have at least five years of experience
providing integrated services to homeless people with mental illness.
Selected providers shall offer whatever services participants
require to obtain and maintain health and housing stability, as
detailed in Section 5806 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, while
participants are on parole, including, but not limited to, all of the
following:
   (1) Case management services.
   (2) Coordination of mental health, medical, and substance abuse
services.
   (3) Parole discharge planning.
   (4) Housing location services.
   (5) Rental subsidies.
   (6) Linkage to other services, as needed.
   (e) At least 60 days prior to the release of an ISMIP participant,
a department-selected ISMIP service provider shall do, or coordinate
with a subcontractor to do, all of the following:
   (1) Draft a discharge plan with the participant that includes
transition into housing that serves the participant's needs and is
affordable, such as permanent supportive housing or a transitional
housing program that includes support services and demonstrates a
clear transition pathway to permanent housing.
   (2) Engage the participant to actively participate in services
upon release, including connecting the participant with the
participant's parole case manager.
   (3) Assist the participant in obtaining identification, if
necessary.
   (4) Assist the participant in applying for any benefits for which
the participant is eligible.
   (f) (1) To facilitate the transition of ISMIP participants into
permanent supportive housing, ISMIP service providers shall
prioritize housing opportunities that are supported by the Mental
Health Services Act, the Mental Health Services Act Housing Program,
or other funding sources that finance permanent supportive housing
for persons with mental illness.
   (2) ISMIP service providers shall also identify housing
opportunities that satisfy both of the following:
   (A) Are located in apartments, single-room occupancy buildings,
townhouses, or single-family homes or provided through
rent-subsidized apartments leased in the open market or set aside
within privately-owned buildings.
   (B) Are not subject to community care licensing requirements or
are exempt from licensing under Section 1504.5 of the Health and
Safety Code.
   (g) (1) ISMIP service providers shall report to the department on
the outcomes of services provided to ISMIP participants within 12,
24, and 36 months of contract implementation. Reported outcomes shall
include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
   (A) The number of participants served.
   (B) The types of services provided to program participants.
   (C) The outcomes of participants, including the number of
participants who remain stably housed in permanent supportive
housing, the number of participants who ceased to participate in the
program and the reasons, and the number of participants who have been
arrested and dates of arrest.
   (D) The number of participants who successfully transitioned to
county mental health programs.
   (E) The recidivism rate of program participants compared to the
recidivism rate for Enhanced Outpatient Program and Correctional
Clinical Case Management System parolees living in the same county
who did not participate in ISMIP.
   (2) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the
department shall report annually by February 1, 2013, and every
February 1 thereafter, to the chairpersons of the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee, the Assembly Committee on Budget, the Senate
Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, the Assembly Committee on
Public Safety, Senate Committee on Public Safety, the Assembly
Committee on Housing and Community Development, and the Senate
Committee on Transportation and Housing all of the following
information:
   (A) The number of individuals who participated in the ISMIP
program during the previous fiscal year.
   (B) The number of participants who remain housed.
   (C) The number of participants who returned to prison or jail.

   SEC. 3.    (a) The provisions of this act shall only
be operative when the Legislature appropriates moneys for Integrated
Services for Mentally Ill Parolees (ISMIP) in the Budget Act for each
fiscal year.  
   (b) All activities identified in this act as the responsibility of
ISMIP service provider contractors shall be deemed appropriate
expenditures of ISMIP funds.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 50408 of the Health and
Safety Code is amended to read:
   50408.  (a) On or before December 31 of each year, the department
shall submit an annual report to the Governor and both houses of the
Legislature on the operations and accomplishments during the previous
fiscal year of the housing and infrastructure programs administered
by the department, including, but not limited to, the Emergency
Housing and Assistance Program and Community Development Block Grant
activity.
   (b) The report shall include all of the following information:
   (1) The number of units assisted by those programs.
   (2) The number of individuals and households served and their
income levels.
   (3) The distribution of units among various areas of the state.
   (4) The amount of other public and private funds leveraged by the
assistance provided by those programs.
   (5) Information detailing the assistance provided to various
groups of persons by programs that are targeted to assist those
groups.
   (6) The information required to be reported pursuant to Section
17031.8.
   (7) The cumulative total for each item of information required
under paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive, for each program funded under
the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2002.
   (8) The cumulative total for each item of information required
under paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive, for each program funded under
the Housing and Emergency Shelter Trust Fund Act of 2006.