Bill Text: CA AB974 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

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

---

Bill Title: Mental Health Services Act: reporting veterans spending.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2017-10-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 411, Statutes of 2017. [AB974 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB974-Introduced.html

---

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 974

---

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk-Silva

February 16, 2017

---

An act to amend Section 5500 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 974, as introduced, Quirk-Silva. Mental health advocacy.

Existing law requires the State Department of State Hospitals and the State Department of Health Care Services to contract with a single nonprofit entity to provide for the protection of, and advocacy services to, persons with mental disabilities, as specified. Existing law requires each local mental health director to appoint, or contract for the services of, one or more county patients’ rights advocates. Existing law requires these advocates to, among other things, monitor mental health facilities, services, and programs, as defined, for compliance with statutory and regulatory patients’ rights provisions, and receive and investigate certain complaints from or concerning recipients of mental health services residing in licensed health or community care facilities. Existing law authorizes a mental health client, as defined, to enter into an agreement with a county patients’ rights advocate for the provision of advocacy services.

This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NO   Local Program: NO  

---

Bill Text

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

SECTION 1.

 Section 5500 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:

5500.

 As used in this chapter:

(a) “Advocacy” means those activities undertaken on behalf of persons who are receiving or have received mental health services to protect their rights or to secure or upgrade treatment or other services to which they are entitled.

(b) “Mental health client” or “client” means a person who is receiving or has received services from a mental health facility, service, or program and who has has, personally or through a guardian ad litem, entered into an agreement with a county patients’ rights advocate for the provision of advocacy services.

(c) “Mental health facilities, services, or programs” means a publicly operated or supported mental health facility or program; program, a private facility or program licensed or operated for health purposes providing services to persons with mental health disorders; disorders, and publicly supported agencies providing other than mental health services to clients with mental health disorders.

(d) “Independent of providers of service” means that the advocate has no direct or indirect clinical or administrative responsibility for any a recipient of mental health services in any a mental health facility, program, or service for which he or she performs advocacy activities.

(e) “County patients’ rights advocate” means an advocate appointed, or whose services are contracted for, by a local mental health director.