Bill Text: CA SB60 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Mental health: state hospitals.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-08-25 - Hearing postponed by committee. [SB60 Detail]
Download: California-2011-SB60-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 60 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 10, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 24, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Evans
( Coauthor: Senator Alquist
)
DECEMBER 22, 2010
An act to amend Sections 7228 and 7301
Section 7228 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to
mental health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 60, as amended, Evans. Mental health: state hospitals.
Existing law provides for state mental hospitals for the care,
treatment, and education of the mentally disordered, including Napa
State Hospital and Metropolitan State Hospital. These hospitals are
under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Mental Health.
Existing law authorizes the transfer of specified patients
at a state hospital for the mentally disordered who need care and
treatment under conditions of custodial security that can be better
provided within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, to
an institution under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation.
This bill would prohibit a person who was transferred because he
or she, while housed in the state hospital, committed an act that
resulted in the death, rape, or life threatening injury of another
patient or a staff member of the state hospital, from being returned
to the state hospital until a court has determined in a hearing that
the person does not represent a substantial risk of harm to himself,
herself, or others. The bill would require the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation to make regular assessments of these
persons and would authorize the department to petition the court for
the return of the patient to a state hospital, as specified, if the
department determines that the person is not a threat to himself,
herself, or others.
Existing law, prior to admission to Napa State Hospital or the
Metropolitan State Hospital, requires the department to evaluate
patients committed under specified sections of the Penal Code.
Existing law requires a patient determined to be a high-security risk
to be treated in the department's most secure facilities , and
other patients to be treated near the patient's community, as
specified .
This bill would delete these provisions governing evaluation
and treatment, and instead require a risk evaluation, as
specified, prior to the upon commitment
to any state hospital, of a patient who is being committed pursuant
to any provision of the Penal Code. The bill would require a
patient determined to be a high security or violence risk to be
placed in a treatment unit within a state hospital, correctional
facility, state prison psychiatric facility, or other secure facility
with sufficient enhanced security and treatment options to ensure
the security of the patient, the other patients, and the staff, and
to appropriately provide treatment to address the underlying causes
of the risk, consistent with generally accepted professional
standards.
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. Section 7228 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
7228. (a) Prior to
Upon admission to a state hospital, the State
Department of Mental Health shall evaluate each patient committed
pursuant to any section of the Penal Code to determine the security
and violence risk that patient presents to other patients and staff
and the risks to the patient's safety and security that he or she
faces upon admission to the state hospital. The risk assessments
shall be completed by both security and clinical personnel and shall
include a review of the patient's criminal history, psychological
factors, and incidents of aggression or elopement since being
incarcerated or committed.
(b) A patient determined to be a high security or violence risk
pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be placed in a treatment unit
within a state hospital, correctional facility, state prison
psychiatric facility, or other secure facility with sufficient
enhanced security and treatment options to ensure the security of the
patient, the other patients, and the staff, as well as to
appropriately provide treatment to address the underlying causes of
the risk, consistent with generally accepted professional standards.
A patient shall be treated as near to the patient's community as
possible, if an appropriate treatment program is available.
(c) The risk level of the patient shall be assessed at the time of
commitment, prior to any transfer, annually, and after any serious
security incident.
SEC. 2. Section 7301 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code is amended to read:
7301. (a) Whenever, in the opinion of the Director of Mental
Health and with the approval of the Director of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, a person who has been committed to a state hospital
pursuant to provisions of the Penal Code, or who has been placed in a
state hospital temporarily for observation pursuant to, or who has
been committed to a state hospital pursuant to, Article 1 (commencing
with Section 6300) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 6 of this
code, needs care and treatment under conditions of custodial
security, which can be better provided within the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation, that person may be transferred for
those purposes from an institution under the jurisdiction of the
State Department of Mental Health to an institution under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
(b) If a person is transferred pursuant to subdivision (a) because
he or she, while housed in the state hospital, committed an act that
resulted in the death, rape, or life threatening injury of another
patient or a staff member of the state hospital, the person shall not
be returned to the state hospital until a court has determined in a
hearing that the person does not represent a substantial risk of harm
to himself, herself, or others. After transfer to custodial care,
the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall make regular
assessments as to whether the individual continues to represent a
substantial danger to himself, herself, or others such that the
individual cannot be returned to a state hospital. If the Department
of Corrections and Rehabilitation determines that the person no
longer represents a threat to himself, herself, or others, the
department may petition the court to return the patient to a state
hospital that has sufficient security in place to protect the
patient, other patients, and hospital staff.
(c) A person transferred pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not be
subject to the provisions of Section 4500, 4501, 4501.5, 4502, 4530,
or 4531 of the Penal Code. However, he or she shall be subject to the
general rules of the Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation and
of the facility where he or she is confined, and any correctional
employee dealing with that person during the course of an escape or
attempted escape, a fight, or a riot, shall have the same rights,
privileges, and immunities as if the person transferred had been
committed to the Director of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
(d) Whenever a person is transferred to an institution under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
pursuant to this section, any report, opinion, or certificate
required or authorized to be filed with the court that committed the
person to a state hospital, or ordered the person placed therein,
shall be prepared and filed with the court by the head of the
institution in which the person is actually confined or by his or her
designee.
