Bill Text: CA AB845 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 845 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Behavioral health: older adults.

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Failed) 2024-02-01 - From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB845 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB845-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly April 13, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 845

Introduced by Assembly Member Alvarez
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bains and Lackey)

February 14, 2023

An act to add Article 5 (commencing with Section 5816) to Part 3 of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to behavioral health, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 845, as amended, Alvarez. Behavioral health: older adults.

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, establishes the continuously appropriated Mental Health Services Fund to fund various county mental health programs, including the Adult and Older Adult Mental Health System of Care Act. Existing law authorizes the MHSA to be amended by a ²/₃ vote of the Legislature if the amendments are consistent with and further the intent of the MHSA.

This bill would establish within the State Department of Health Care Services an Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator to oversee behavioral health services for older adults. The bill would require that position to be funded with administrative funds from the Mental Health Services Fund. The bill would prescribe the functions of the administrator and their responsibilities, including, but not limited to, developing outcome and related indicators for older adults for the purpose of assessing the status of behavioral health services for older adults, monitoring the quality of programs for those adults, and guiding decisionmaking on how to improve those services. The bill would require the administrator to receive data from other state agencies and departments to implement these provisions, subject to existing state or federal confidentiality requirements. The bill would require the administrator to report to the entities that administer the MHSA on those outcome and related indicators by July 1, ~~2022,~~ 2024, and would require the report to be posted on the department’s internet website. The bill would also require the administrator to develop a strategy and standardized training for all county behavioral health personnel in order for the counties to assist the administrator in obtaining the data necessary to develop the outcome and related indicators. By expanding the purposes for which funds from a continuously appropriated fund may be spent, this bill would make an appropriation.

This bill would declare that it is consistent with and furthers the intent of the MHSA.

Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Article 5 (commencing with Section 5816) is added to Part 3 of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

Article 5. The Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator

5816.

(a) There is within the State Department of Health Care Services an Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator who shall oversee behavioral health services for older adults. The administrator position shall be funded with administrative funds pursuant to, and shall act in accordance with the purposes described in, subdivision (d) of Section 5892.

(b) The Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator shall work in close coordination and collaboration with stakeholders, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) The Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.

(2) The Director of the California Department of Aging.

(3) County behavioral health services departments.

(4) Any other relevant stakeholders to ensure that older adults have access to necessary behavioral health services and supports.

(c) To fulfill duties to consumers and family members, as well as the requirements for research and evaluation of behavioral health services and outcomes as described in subdivision (d) of Section 5892, the Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator’s responsibilities shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(1) Integrate behavioral health services for older adults.

(2) Determine both of the following:

(A) Which outcome and related indicators counties currently collect.

(B) Which current services are being offered.

(3) Develop outcome and related indicators for older adults, using existing data, for the purpose of assessing the status of behavioral health services for older adults, for monitoring the quality of programs intended to serve those older adults, and to guide decisionmaking on how to improve those services.

(4) Ensure that indicators shall reflect the following issues, including, but not limited to, screenings and assessments of affective disorders, suicide risk and suicide rates, medication review, cognitive review and assessment, alcohol use and substance misuse, housing and independent living assessment, social connections and social isolation, consumer and family satisfaction with care, access to care overall and for diverse populations, continuity and integration of care, health services utilization such as psychiatric hospitalizations and emergency room use for behavioral health care, the number of eligible older adults with a mental health service need compared with the number of eligible older adults who received services in the measurement year, and services provided on a regional basis to determine regional areas with the greatest need for services.

(5) To the extent that data does not exist to sufficiently determine the outcome and related indicators identified in paragraph (4), work with all relevant stakeholders to develop a strategy to identify high-level indicators, including, but not limited to, for the indicators identified in paragraph (4) that cannot be sufficiently defined using existing and available data.

(6) Utilize the new outcome and related indicators to prepare and disseminate reports, on an annual basis, to the State Department of Health Care Services, the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, and counties that shall include, but are not limited to, numbers of older adults served by age, differences in age categorization of older adult groups served, and effectiveness of services.

(7) In close coordination and consultation with experts in the field, establish a standardized geriatrics training module for behavioral health professionals that would include a plan to account for cultural, linguistic, ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic diversity among the older adult population that addresses barriers and stigma experienced by older adult populations. The standardized training module shall be made available to behavioral health professionals and other providers.

(8) Implement a public awareness campaign related to older adult mental health.

(d) The Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator shall receive any data, the access to which is not restricted by any state or federal law, that is necessary to develop outcome-related indicators as specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (c), including, but not limited to, data held by other state agencies or departments.

(e) The Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator shall maintain the confidentiality of information received pursuant to this section in a manner that is equal to the manner in which other state agencies or departments maintain the confidentiality of data.

(f) The Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator may establish one or more advisory bodies to guide and inform the selection of outcome and related indicators and the strategy for developing and reporting those indicators. An existing state entity that involves diverse representation of older adults, including, but not limited to, the California Commission on Aging, may act as an advisory body for purposes of this section.

(g) On or before July 1, ~~2022,~~ 2024, the Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator shall report all of the outcome and related indicators developed by the administrator pursuant to paragraph (4) of subdivision (c) to the entities listed in subdivision (d) of Section 5892. The report shall also include recommendations on ways to establish a system for monitoring those indicators on a continual basis, including additional staffing or technology that might be necessary and any regulatory or fiscal barriers that may hinder future progress on the development of a monitoring system. The report shall be posted on the department’s internet website.

(h) The Older Adult Behavioral Health Services Administrator shall develop a strategy and standardized training for all county behavioral health personnel, including clinicians, involved in delivering Mental Health Services Act mental health care and prevention services to older adults for counties to assist the administrator in obtaining the data necessary to develop the outcome and related indicators specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (c).

SEC. 2.

The Legislature finds and declares that this act is consistent with and furthers the intent of the Mental Health Services Act within the meaning of Section 18 of the Mental Health Services Act.