Senate Standing Committee on Health

The Senate Committee on Health will come to order. Good afternoon. It's going to be a really easy one today. While we have five bills on the agenda, four are proposed for consent, so we only have one for presentation. Before that, Madam Senator, I think we have a quorum, so. Committee Assistant, can we establish a quorum? Please call the attendance.

[Roll Call]

A quorum is present. We need to first adopt the Committee rules. Can I get a motion to adopt the Committee rule moved by Senator Durazzo? The motion is to adopt the Committee rules. Committee assistant, please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

The rules are adopted. I have a motion by my Vice Chair to move the consent calendar. Committee Assistant, please call the roll.

[Roll call]

We're going to hold the consent items open for the rest of our colleagues to join us. Senator Blakespear has file item SB329. She is ready to present.

When you're ready, Senator.

Thank you, Chair and hello, colleagues. I'm happy for the opportunity to present SB329 today. I will be accepting the committee amendments and I appreciate the chair and the staff for their time and attention to this proposal.

Currently, the Department of Health Care Services is failing to follow its internal standards for handling and investigating complaints concerning drug and alcohol treatment facilities. Common complaints include sexual misconduct, poor management of medications for residents and use of unlicensed counselors. There are over 2,000 Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers licensed with DHCS in California.

These facilities are concentrated in Southern California. In fact, in Orange County, there are more beds for small treatment facilities per 10,000 residents than in any other California county. Consequently, there are complaints that are filed about Orange County facilities.

In Mission Viejo, just 10 state licensed addiction treatment homes generated 84 emergency service calls, including 35 disturbances, 15 assists from county paramedics, largely for overdoses, and reports of attempted suicide, battery, vandalism fraud, mental health crises and gunshots, according to three years of data from the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Given the seriousness of the reports, it was clear that legislation was needed after a recent state audit found that DHCS takes on average 183 days to assign complaints to staff to follow up on and on average an additional one year to complete an investigation for low and medium priority complaints.

So my bill, SB329 would require DHCS to complete investigations into drug or alcohol recovery treatment facility complaints within 60 days of receiving them, and this is in line with their existing internal policies. Also, it would require that the complainant be notified in writing of the reason for the delay if it doesn't meet that deadline.

Good government means acting quickly and decisively to protect the health and safety of the community. It also means being responsive to people and making sure that the government is not ghosting them when they send in something and then do not receive any response at all.

SB329 would require DHCS to promptly respond to complaints about treatment facilities and then investigate experts expeditiously so action can be taken swiftly when necessary to protect patients or surrounding communities.

And with me to testify Chair, if you don't mind, I have with me Valerie Amezcua, who's the mayor of Santa Ana, and Caroline Grinder, the legislative advocate for the League of California Cities.

May begin, as you both have a total of six minutes. It's up to you how you divide your time.

Thank you very much. Good afternoon, Chair Menjivar and committee members. My name is Valerie Amezcua and I am the Mayor of the City of Santa Ana. Residential Recovery Housing provides a range of benefits to some of California's most vulnerable residents, and it is critical their needs are prioritized over profits.

SB329 implements timelines for the Department of Healthcare Services to investigate complaints against alcohol and drug treatment facilities. Specifically, SB329 requires the department to to assign a complaint to an analyst for investigation within 10 days of receiving the complaint and to complete the investigation regarding a facility within 60 days of receiving the complaint.

A recent state audit found that DHCS took an average over a year to complete an investigation for low and medium priority complaints. Existing law does not require timelines for when the department must investigate complaints. DHCS's internal guidelines align with the timelines in SB329.

However, the audit revealed these timelines are nowhere close to being met and because they are internal and not in law, there is no accountability. SB329 will help ensure compliance with state licensing laws administered through the through DHCS, which are essential to safeguarding residents well being and maintaining quality of life.

Santa Ana, like many cities in Orange County, has a significant number of sober living homes, most of which are located in residential neighborhoods rather than near medical facilities or other supportive services. This concentration raises concerns about oversight, accountability and the impact on both residents and the surrounding community. There are approximately 30 licensed facilities in our city.

The majority of the alcoholism and drug abuse recovery or treatment facilities are concentrated in some of our neighborhoods. Facing the most challenges. Vulnerable individuals residing in these homes deserve transparency and accountability. These homes must be held to the regulatory standards that the state expects of such facilities to ensure proper care and support, especially when complaints are submitted.

For these reasons, the City of Santa Ana and as the Mayor of the City of Santa Ana, we strongly support SB329 and thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Good afternoon Chair and members. I'm Caroline Grinder. I'm here on behalf of the League of California Cities which is proud to sponsor SB329. Alcohol and Drug treatment facilities serve as a critical component of California's behavioral health continuum, offering stability and support to people in treatment.

We understand that safeguarding these spaces means ensuring that the focus stays firmly on recovery outcomes and not financial interests. You've heard us mention here a few times that a recent state auditor report revealed what cities have been saying for a long time.

There is a real need for increased transparency, accountability and information to be available to our communities when concerns over these facilities arise. Specifically, the auditor found that department does not always respond promptly or thoroughly to investigate complaints and recommended that the department improve the timeliness of their investigations.

SB329 does just that by issuing clear, reasonable timelines aligned with existing policy to enhance transparency and hold providers accountable.

The committee amendments go a step further, ensuring the department notifies people if their complaint is not within the department's jurisdiction and also to ensure that they are notified if the department will need more time to conclude their investigation. We know there's billions of dollars in the pipeline for behavioral health housing across California.

So we believe now more than ever there's a real need to reexamine the oversight of these facilities. For that reason, we think SB329 will help meet our shared goals, ensuring treatment facilities meet standards of patient care, which is really critical to effective treatment outcomes and community well being at large.

So with that, we urge you to support this important legislation. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Now is the time for any me toos in support of SB329 please state your name, organization and your position please.

Thank you Madam Chair Members. Dylan Elliott on behalf of the California State Association of Psychiatrists in support.

Thank you.

Nicole Wordelman on behalf of the Orange County Board of Supervisors in support.

Thank you. Seeing no other me toos this is a time for any primary individuals in opposition like to step forward. Seeing no primary opposition. Any me toos in opposition of SB329? Seeing none either. I'm going to bring it back down to my back to the dies colleagues. Any questions concerns comments to the author? Senator Dr. Weber Pierson.

Thank you. Thank you for presenting it. Not really a question to the author, but I do have a question, a clarification question for the amendment.

Go ahead.

So it says on the 1st A1 the department shall assign a complaint if it determines it has jurisdiction to an analyst for investigation within 10 days of receiving the complaint. So, I was going back and forth with my staff about this yesterday.

So is this, so you receive the complaint on day one and the analyst must have it within 10 days or is it you receive the complaint on day one, the department determines if it's within their jurisdiction and then they have 10 days after that to give it to the-

It has to be assigned within the 10th day.

So it has to be get it on day one and within 10 days the analyst has to have it.

Yes.

Okay. That's what I thought. Thank you.

Senator Durazo.

Since I have the experts in front of me, just a question is what else is it going to take to get the kind of enforcement? Because if it's going on and I think you mentioned that this was a statutory requirement, but there must be some statutory requirements that they're bound by.

So what of this is going to help with the real problem?

Go ahead.

I'm happy to take that one. Yeah. So in state statute currently there's no timelines for when this work must be done. The statute enables the department to have this oversight authority.

But we think by taking the extra step to implement these timelines into statute, it'll help hold the department accountable and increase transparency for the public to understand when they should expect a response from the department. We know more work is done to be done there to ensure the department is able to meet these timelines effectively.

But we think this is the start of that conversation.

Thank you.

And I want to thank you so much for working with the team on this. I think what you mentioned was perfect that individuals are providing or submitting complaints and never hearing back on their complaint. What happened? What's the follow up.

And oftentimes they'll submit complaints that have nothing to do with the Justice Department, which is also helpful for us to let them know we have no jurisdiction on this so they don't feel like government is not following up on them. So I appreciate you working with us on that.

I think I heard a motion from my Vice Chair. That's correct. Perfect. So the motion in front of us is do pass as amended, and we refer to the Committee on Appropriations. Committee assistant, please call the roll.

[ROLL CALL]

Senator, at the moment we have seven ayes, but we're missing some colleagues. We're going to put your Bill on call for now. Thank you very much. Thank you. Let's open Committtee Assistant. Let's open the roll on our consent calendar. Please call the roll.

[Roll Call]

Okay, getting there. Calling the elect our colleagues to please come vote. We are done with the business in front of the Health Committee. We're just waiting for the final votes. It Health Committee is going to go in a quick recess while we wait for our Members to come and vote. Committee assistant, can you please open the roll on our consent calendar?

[Roll Call]

We're going to put that back on call. Committee Assistant, can you open the roll call on file item 3? SB329.

[Roll Call]

We're going to put file item 3 back on call and Health Committee will once again take a recess. Health Committee is. Will reconvene. Committee assistant, can you please open the call. Open the roll on the consent calendar?

[Roll Call]

We're going to put the consent calendar back on call. Could we open the roll on file item three? SB329.

[Roll Call]

File item three will be placed back on call and Health Committee will once again take a recess. Health Committee will reconvene hopefully for the last time today. Committee assistant, can you please open the roll on the consent calendar?

[Roll Call]

On account of I's 10 no, 0. The consent calendar is out. Can we open the roll on file item three? SB329. Grove, Rubio. Rubio, aye. 100. That Bill is out. We are closing the roll on both items. With that, Health Committee is adjourned.