Mental health., the official text

An act to add Article 4 (commencing with Section 1797.280) to Chapter 4 of Division 2.5 of the Health and Safety Code, and to add Section 5150.3 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Under existing law, when a person, as a result of a mental disorder, is a danger to others or to themselves, or is gravely disabled, they may, upon probable cause, be taken into custody for a period of up to 72 hours for assessment, evaluation, and crisis intervention, or placement for evaluation and treatment, as specified. Existing law prohibits mental health personnel from instructing a peace officer to take a person to, or keep the person at, a jail, solely because of the unavailability of an acute bed.
This bill would require a peace officer who is transporting the above-described person to a designated facility for assessment to transport the person to the closest designated facility, either geographically or by time, to where the peace officer took the person into custody.
Existing law, the Emergency Medical Services System and the Prehospital Emergency Medical Care Personnel Act, establishes the Emergency Medical Services Authority. Under existing law, the authority is responsible for the coordination and integration of all state activities concerning emergency medical services. Existing law requires local emergency medical services agencies to establish policies that govern, among other things, the transport and destination of patients within the emergency medical services system.
This bill would require each law enforcement agency to submit a quarterly report to the authority containing specified information regarding transports conducted pursuant to these provisions, including, among other things, the origin location of the transported person. By imposing additional duties on local law enforcement agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would require the authority to publish the reports annually, as specified.
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.

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

SECTION 1.
Article 4 (commencing with Section 1797.280) is added to Chapter 4 of Division 2.5 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
4.
Emergency Medical Services Reporting1797.280.
(a) Each law enforcement agency shall report quarterly to the Emergency Medical Services Authority, in a format prescribed by the authority, all transports to an emergency department.
(b) Reported data shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) Origin location of the transported individual.
(2) Destination facility and the date and time of transport.
(3) Stated rationale for destination selection.
(4) Whether the destination was the nearest appropriate emergency department or an alternative destination site.
(5) Demographic information of the transported individual, excluding personally identifiable information.
(6) Reason the individual was transported to the emergency department, including whether they were being transported for purposes of assessment pursuant to Section 5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or for a nonbehavioral health medical emergency.
(c) The authority shall publish annual aggregate reports on its internet website.
(d) For purposes of this section, “law enforcement agency” means any city or municipal police department, county sheriff’s department, or other public agency that employs peace officers, as defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code.

SEC. 2.
Section 5150.3 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:
5150.3.
(a) A peace officer who is transporting a person to a designated facility for assessment pursuant to Section 5150 shall transport the person to the closest designated facility, geographically or by time, to where the peace officer took the person into custody.
(b) In cases where a designated facility is unable to accept the individual and the emergency department becomes the chosen destination, the individual shall be transported to the nearest appropriate emergency department to where the peace officer first assumed custody of the individual for purposes of transport.

SEC. 3.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.