AB 1136 (Eggman) - Support - Internet- Based Database of Facilities

This bill requires the Department of Public Health to develop and submit a proposal to solicit a 21st Century Cures Act federal grant to develop a real-time, internet-based database to help identify and designate facilities with available beds for the treatment of individuals experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis.

pdf version 7-10-18 support letter

AB 1436 (Levine) - Support - Suicide Prevention Training Required for Psychologist Licensure

This bill will improve the competencies of mental health professionals and serve to hopefully contribute toward stemming the tide of increased suicide rates over the last decade.

pdf version 6-7-18 support letter
pdf version 7-16-18 support letter

AB 1893 (Maienschein) - Support - Maternal Mental Health

This bill would require the department to investigate and apply for federal funding opportunities regarding maternal mental health and to prepare a report to the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2020, on how the department plans to use any federal funding it receives.

pdf version 3-13-18 support letter
pdf version 5-31-18 support letter

AB 1968 (Low) - Oppose - Mental Health Firearms Ban

This bill places a restriction on a person with a mental health disability without findings of violence or dangerous behavior and it perpetuates misconceptions about violence and mental health disabilities. Most importantly, it presupposes violent tendencies result from a mental illness.

pdf version 6-8-18 oppose letter
pdf version 7-9-18 oppose letter

AB 1971 (Santiago) – Oppose - LPS Act Expansion of Gravely Disabled Definition

This bill seeks to expand the “gravely disabled” definition contained within the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS). It would allow counties to obtain conservatorships for people they believe are otherwise unable to provide for their own care.

pdf version 5-9-18 oppose letter
pdf version 6-13-18 oppose letter
pdf version 7-20-18 oppose letter

AB 2099 (Gloria) - Support - 5150 Involuntary Hold Paperwork

The purpose of this bill is to make sure the involuntary hold process works efficiently. That does not happen when there are delays due to requiring the 5150 paperwork be presented with an original signature.

pdf version 3-15-18 support letter
pdf version 6-8-18 support letter

AB 2316 (Eggman) - Support - Online Patients' Rights Advocacy Material

This bill will require a contract between a patients’ rights program (currently held by Disability Rights California), and the Department of State Hospitals and the State Department of Health Care Services specify that patients’ rights advocacy materials be available online. Further a county must certify that county patients’ rights advocates have reviewed the training materials online within 90 days of employment. 

pdf version 3-27-18 support letter
pdf version 6-8-18 support letter
pdf version 8-24-18 request for signature

AB 2333 (Wood) - Support - Office of Emergency Services: Behavioral Health Response

This bill establishes a behavioral health deputy director within the Office of Emergency Services. This will allow the state to be better prepared to deal with the trauma of disasters and plan for the behavioral impacts that affect impacted communities.

pdf version 4-9-18 support letter
pdf version 6-8-18 support letter
pdf version 7-11-18 support letter

AB 2983 (Arambula) - Support - Involuntary Commitment Not Required for MH Services

This bill provides that hospitals, including stand-alone-psychiatric hospitals, may not require a person to be placed on a 5150 hold as a condition of accepting a patient transfer from an emergency department. People who seek and receive voluntary services are more likely to benefit from the services and have positive mental health outcomes.

pdf version 4-27-18 support letter
pdf version 6-18-18 support letter
pdf version 7-11-18 support letter
pdf version 8-24-18 request for signature

AB 3032 (Frazier) - Support - Maternal Mental Health Hospital Support

This bill would require a general acute care hospital or special hospital that has a perinatal unit to develop and implement, by January 1, 2020, a quality management program relating to maternal mental health disorders including, but not limited to, postpartum depression.

pdf version 6-8-18 support letter
pdf version 9-4-18 request for signature

SB 142 (Beall) - Support - Criminal Offenders with Mental Health Disabilities

This bill incentivizes the placement of defendants with mental health disabilities in community-based treatment, rather than state prison, by sharing the savings from reduced prison admissions with counties to reinvest in community-based treatment.

pdf version 7-19-18 support letter

SB 906 (Beall) - Support - Peer Support Certification Program

This bill establishes a statewide peer, parent, transition age, and family support specialist certification program as part of the state’s mental health delivery system.

pdf version 3-7-18 support letter
pdf version 6-13-18 support letter
pdf versioln 7-20-18 support letter
pdf version 9-7-18 request for signature

SB 1004 (Wiener) – Support - Mental Health Services Act: Prevention and Early Intervention

This bill seeks to provide a structure within the Mental Health Services Act to move counties toward using their Prevention and Early Intervention funds under the Act to standardize and strengthen early intervention strategies for mental health.

pdf version 4-22-18 support letter
pdf version 6-13-18 support letter

SB 1113 (Monning) – Support - Mental Health in the Workplace Voluntary Standards

This bill provides authorization for the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to engage workplace mental health experts, consumers, and public and private employers to create a voluntary standard for mental health in the workplace.

pdf version 6-4-18 support letter
pdf version 8-23-18 request for signature

SB 1142 (Skinner) - Support - The Getting Home Safe Act

This bill would make important improvements to the discharge of incarcerated individuals and avoid late-night discharges. As the findings in the bill state, people with mental health disabilities or substance addiction are less likely to access immediate treatment services following a late-night release from county jail. 

pdf version 8-24-18 support letter

SB 1187 (Beall) - Support - Competence to Stand Trial

This bill reduces the term for commitment in a treatment facility from three years to the shorter of two years or the period of commitment equal to the maximum term of imprisonment provided by law for the most serious offense charged. By shortening the maximum commitment period, this bill creates the opportunity for counties to provide appropriate community-based mental health and supportive services.

pdf version 6-13-8 support letter
pdf version 7-20-18 support letter
pdf version 8-30-18 request for signature