California Welfare And Institutions Code Section 5675

(a) Subject to Section 5768, Placer County and up to 15 other counties may establish a pilot project for up to six years, to develop a shared mental health rehabilitation center for the provision of community care and treatment for persons with mental disorders who are placed in a state hospital or another health facility because no community placements are available to meet the needs of these patients. Participation in this pilot project by the counties shall be on a voluntary basis. (b) (1) The department shall establish, by emergency regulation, the standards for the pilot project, and monitor the compliance of the counties with those standards. Participating counties, in consultation with the department, shall be responsible for program monitoring. (2) The department, in conjunction with the county mental health directors, shall provide an interim report to the Legislature within three years of the commencement of operation of the facilities authorized pursuant to this section regarding the progress and cost effectiveness demonstrated by the pilot project. The department, in conjunction with the county mental health directors, shall report to the Legislature within five years of the commencement of operation of the facilities authorized pursuant to this section regarding the progress and cost effectiveness demonstrated by the pilot project. The report shall evaluate whether the pilot project is effective based on clinical indicators, and is successful in preventing future placement of its clients in state hospitals or other long-term health facilities, and shall report whether the cost of care in the pilot facilities is less than the cost of care in state hospitals or in other long-term health facility options. The evaluation report shall include, but not be limited to, an evaluation of the selected method and the effectiveness of the pilot project staffing, and an analysis of the effectiveness of the pilot project at meeting all of the following objectives: (A) That the clients placed in the facilities show improved global assessment scores, as measured by preadmission and postadmission tests. (B) That the clients placed in the facilities demonstrate improved functional behavior as measured by preadmission and postadmission tests. (C) That the clients placed in the facilities have reduced medication levels as determined by comparison of preadmission and postadmission records. (3) The pilot project shall be deemed successful if it demonstrates both of the following: (A) The costs of the program are no greater than public expenditures for providing alternative services to the clients served by the project. (B) That the benefit to the clients, as described in this subdivision, is improved by the project. (c) The project shall be subject to existing regulations of the State Department of Health Services applicable to health facilities that the State Department of Mental Health deems necessary for fire and life safety of persons with mental illness. (d) The department shall consider projects proposed by other counties under Section 5768. (e) (1) Clients served by the project shall have all of the protections and rights guaranteed to mental health patients pursuant to the following provisions of law: (A) Part 1 (commencing with Section 5000) and this part. (B) Article 5 (commencing with Section 835), Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 850), and Article 6 (commencing with Section 860) of Chapter 4 of Title 9 of the California Code of Regulations. (2) Clients shall have access to the services of a county patients` rights advocates as provided in Chapter 6.2 (commencing with Section 5500) of Part 1.