AB 2316: Mental health: county patients’ rights advocates: training materials.

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 protection 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.

This bill additionally would require the contracted entity to make patients rights advocacy training materials readily accessible to all county patients rights advocates online and would require the training materials to include specified topics. The bill would require a county to verify that its patients rights advocates review the training materials within 90 days of employment. The bill would also require the county to keep a record of the verification and send a copy to a specified entity. The bill would exempt county patients rights advocates who have been employed for at least a year on or after January 1, 2019, from the requirement to review the training materials. By requiring counties to perform new duties, 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 the statutory provisions noted above.