SECTIONS 4341-4341.5

4341.  (a) In order to ensure the availability of an adequate numberof persons from all disciplines necessary to implement appropriateand effective services to severely mentally ill persons of all agesand ethnic groups, the department shall, to the extent resources areavailable, implement a Human Resources Development Program. (b) Implementation of the program shall include negotiation withany or all of the following: the University of California, statecolleges, community colleges, private universities and colleges,public and private hospitals, and public and private rehabilitation,community care, treatment providers, and professional associations,to arrange affiliations and contracts for educational and trainingprograms to ensure appropriate numbers of graduates with experiencein serving severely mentally ill persons in the most cost-effectiveprograms. (c) The human resources development effort shall be undertakenwith active participation of the California Conference of LocalMental Health Directors, client and family representatives, andprofessional and academic institutions. (d) The program shall give particular attention to areas ofspecific expertise where local programs and state hospitals havedifficulty recruiting qualified staff, including programs forforensic persistently severely mentally ill children and youth, andseverely mentally ill elderly persons. Specific attention shall begiven to ensuring the development of a mental health work force withthe necessary bilingual and bicultural skills to deliver effectiveservice to the diverse population of the state.4341.1.  (a) The task force funded by Schedule (a) of Item4440-001-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2000 (Ch. 52,Stats. 2000) to address and identify options for meeting the staffingneeds of state and county health, human services, and criminaljustice agencies shall include a representative from the StateDepartment of Mental Health, who shall serve as chair, the Secretaryof the Health and Human Services Agency or his or her designee, arepresentative of the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency, theSecretary for Education or his or her designee, a representative ofthe California Mental Health Planning Council, and representatives ofthe University of California, including the University of Californiamedical schools and medical residency training programs, theCalifornia State University, the California Community Colleges, theCalifornia School Boards Association, the Association of CaliforniaSchool Administrators, the Medical Board of California, the Board ofBehavioral Sciences, the Board of Psychology, the California MentalHealth Directors Association, the California Council of CommunityMental Health Agencies, the National Alliance for the MentallyIll-California, the California Network of Mental Health Clients, theUnited Advocates for Children of California, and the CaliforniaAlliance of Child and Family Services. The State Department of MentalHealth shall provide staff to the task force. (b) The task force shall do all of the following: (1) Study the shortage of mental health workers in publicly fundedmental health services and develop recommendations for expansion ofall of the following: (A) Programs such as the Human Services Academy currentlyestablished by the Mental Health Association of Los Angeles and theLos Angeles Unified School District to offer high school studentseducation about mental health problems, services, and informationabout the meaning and value to society of service in publicly fundedmental health care. (B) Programs that expand graduate school programs. (C) Ways to expand the utilization of those who have beenconsumers of mental health services. (D) Ways to engage community college students, four-year collegeundergraduates, and college graduates in careers leading to mentalhealth service. (E) Efforts to change the curriculum of programs, undergraduate,graduate, and postgraduate, including medical residency programs,that could lead to employment in public mental health programs tomake sure there is clinical training and education that complementsand supports employment in public mental health programs. (F) Revisions, as may be necessary, to licensing requirementsincluding recommendations for proposed legislation, and scope ofpractice issues that maximize the opportunity to utilize consumersand are consistent with the types of services likely to be requiredto serve seriously emotionally disturbed children and severelymentally ill adults who need a wide array of services as set forth inthe children's and adults' systems of care. (G) Financial supports in the form of stipends, loan forgiveness,or other programs that could be accomplished through state or federalfunds that would further support the need for employment. (2) Annually quantify the need for different types of providers indifferent regions of the state including the cost, positions, andprojected future needs. (3) Evaluate the impact of competition from the private sector onthe availability of mental health professionals in the public sector. (4) Address other issues of collaboration and coordination betweenthe educational system, the licensing boards, and the mental healthsystem that are impeding progress in expanding the mental healthworkforce. (5) Address issues of collaboration and coordination within thevarious levels of the educational system that are impeding progressin expanding the mental health workforce. (6) Develop recommendations to ensure all of the following: (A) Two-year and four-year colleges have sufficient capacity totrain all the mental health staff needed. (B) Issues that obstruct development of a career ladder betweentwo-year and four-year schools are eliminated. (C) Community college programs have clear delineation of bothskills and theory that need to be mastered for each type of position. (D) There are new certificate programs for psychosocialrehabilitation at the community college level and post baccalaureatecase management. (7) Examine options for collaboration on curriculum betweenemployees in the public mental health system, and high schools,community colleges, and undergraduate and graduate educationprograms. (c) The task force shall issue a progress report to theLegislature on its findings on or before May 1, 2001, and shall issuea final report to the Legislature on or before May 1, 2002.4341.5.  In order to ensure an adequate number of qualifiedpsychiatrists and psychologists with forensic skills, the StateDepartment of Mental Health shall, to the extent resources areavailable, plan with the University of California, privateuniversities, and the California Postsecondary Education Commission,for the development of programs for the training of psychiatrists andpsychologists with forensic skills, and recommend appropriateincentive measures, such as state scholarships.