SECTIONS 5803-5809

5803.  (a) The State Department of Mental Health shall issue arequest for proposals to develop system of care programs no laterthan October 1 in any year in which the state budget provides newfunds to expand the system of care provided for in this chapter. Therequest for proposals shall include the following: (1) Proposals may be submitted as a regional system of care bycounties acting jointly, independent countywide proposals, andproposals to serve discrete geographic areas within counties or for aspecific integrated services agency team. Nothing in the request forproposal shall be construed to restrict a county from contractingfor part or all services included in the demonstration projectproposal. (2) The department shall establish reporting requirements fordirect and indirect costs, and these requirements may be included inthe request for proposals. (3) The department shall require that proposals identify resourcesnecessary to measure client and cost outcome and interagencycollaboration. Proposal guidelines shall clearly requireidentification of procedures to document outcomes. (4) Proposals must be approved by the board of supervisors and thelocal mental health board or commission. (b) The director shall prepare a method for rating proposals toassure objectivity and selection of the best qualified applications.New proposals shall be selected with consideration of regionalbalance across the state. (c) The State Department of Mental Health shall fund counties withintegrated service agencies or countywide systems of care fundedunder Chapter 982 of the Statutes of 1988, operating at the time ofpassage of this part. Those programs shall be funded under theprovisions paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 5700 and shallbe subject to all of the requirements and sanctions of this part.5804.  (a) The State Department of Mental Health shall includefunding under this part in the county's performance contractsrequired under Section 5650 for existing and new counties selectedunder this part to develop an integrated service agency component ora countywide or regional system of care. The contracts requiredpursuant to this part shall be exempt from the requirements of thePublic Contract Code and the State Administrative Manual and shall beexempt from approval by the Department of General Services. (b) Projects funded under this part, or continued under theprovisions of subdivision (b) of Section 5802, shall be considered anongoing program of service delivery as long as the county and any ofits contractors meet client and cost outcomes as required in theannual performance contract established by the department. (c) The department may terminate contracts funded under this partwhen the department determines that the county has failed to meetclient and cost outcomes as required in the performance contract orare no longer able to operate programs under the provisions of thispart. (d) Counties and their contractors shall provide the departmentwith all information needed to evaluate the financial and programperformance of participating projects.5805.  The State Department of Mental Health shall require countiesto use available state and matching funds for the client targetpopulation as defined in Section 5600.3 to develop a comprehensivearray of services as defined in Sections 5600.6 and 5600.7.5806.  The State Department of Mental Health shall establish servicestandards that ensure that members of the target population areidentified, and services provided to assist them to liveindependently, work, and reach their potential as productivecitizens. The department shall provide annual oversight of grantsissued pursuant to this part for compliance with these standards.These standards shall include, but are not limited to, all of thefollowing: (a) A service planning and delivery process that is targetpopulation based and includes the following: (1) Determination of the numbers of clients to be served and theprograms and services that will be provided to meet their needs. Thelocal director of mental health shall consult with the sheriff, thepolice chief, the probation officer, the mental health board,contract agencies, and family, client, ethnic, and citizenconstituency groups as determined by the director. (2) Plans for services, including outreach to families whoseseverely mentally ill adult is living with them, design of mentalhealth services, coordination and access to medications, psychiatricand psychological services, substance abuse services, supportivehousing or other housing assistance, vocational rehabilitation, andveterans' services. Plans also shall contain evaluation strategies,that shall consider cultural, linguistic, gender, age, and specialneeds of minorities in the target populations. Provision shall bemade for staff with the cultural background and linguistic skillsnecessary to remove barriers to mental health services due tolimited-English-speaking ability and cultural differences. Recipientsof outreach services may include families, the public, primary carephysicians, and others who are likely to come into contact withindividuals who may be suffering from an untreated severe mentalillness who would be likely to become homeless if the illnesscontinued to be untreated for a substantial period of time. Outreachto adults may include adults voluntarily or involuntarilyhospitalized as a result of a severe mental illness. (3) Provision for services to meet the needs of target populationclients who are physically disabled. (4) Provision for services to meet the special needs of olderadults. (5) Provision for family support and consultation services,parenting support and consultation services, and peer support orself-help group support, where appropriate for the individual. (6) Provision for services to be client-directed and that employpsychosocial rehabilitation and recovery principles. (7) Provision for psychiatric and psychological services that areintegrated with other services and for psychiatric and psychologicalcollaboration in overall service planning. (8) Provision for services specifically directed to seriouslymentally ill young adults 25 years of age or younger who are homelessor at significant risk of becoming homeless. These provisions mayinclude continuation of services that still would be received throughother funds had eligibility not been terminated due to age. (9) Services reflecting special needs of women from diversecultural backgrounds, including supportive housing that acceptschildren, personal services coordinator therapeutic treatment, andsubstance treatment programs that address gender-specific trauma andabuse in the lives of persons with mental illness, and vocationalrehabilitation programs that offer job training programs free ofgender bias and sensitive to the needs of women. (10) Provision for housing for clients that is immediate,transitional, permanent, or all of these. (11) Provision for clients who have been suffering from anuntreated severe mental illness for less than one year, and who donot require the full range of services but are at risk of becominghomeless unless a comprehensive individual and family supportservices plan is implemented. These clients shall be served in amanner that is designed to meet their needs. (12) Provision for services for veterans. (b) A client shall have a clearly designated mental healthpersonal services coordinator who may be part of a multidisciplinarytreatment team who is responsible for providing or assuring neededservices. Responsibilities include complete assessment of the client's needs, development of the client's personal services plan, linkagewith all appropriate community services, monitoring of the qualityand followthrough of services, and necessary advocacy to ensure thatthe client receives those services that are agreed to in the personalservices plan. A client shall participate in the development of hisor her personal services plan, and responsible staff shall consultwith the designated conservator, if one has been appointed, and, withthe consent of the client, consult with the family and othersignificant persons as appropriate. (c) The individual personal services plan shall ensure thatmembers of the target population involved in the system of carereceive age-appropriate, gender-appropriate, and culturallyappropriate services or appropriate services based on anycharacteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 of the GovernmentCode, to the extent feasible, that are designed to enable recipientsto: (1) Live in the most independent, least restrictive housingfeasible in the local community, and for clients with children, tolive in a supportive housing environment that strives forreunification with their children or assists clients in maintainingcustody of their children as is appropriate. (2) Engage in the highest level of work or productive activityappropriate to their abilities and experience. (3) Create and maintain a support system consisting of friends,family, and participation in community activities. (4) Access an appropriate level of academic education orvocational training. (5) Obtain an adequate income. (6) Self-manage their illness and exert as much control aspossible over both the day-to-day and long-term decisions that affecttheir lives. (7) Access necessary physical health care and maintain the bestpossible physical health. (8) Reduce or eliminate serious antisocial or criminal behaviorand thereby reduce or eliminate their contact with the criminaljustice system. (9) Reduce or eliminate the distress caused by the symptoms ofmental illness. (10) Have freedom from dangerous addictive substances. (d) The individual personal services plan shall describe theservice array that meets the requirements of subdivision (c), and tothe extent applicable to the individual, the requirements ofsubdivision (a).5807.  (a) The State Department of Mental Health shall requirecounties which receive funding to develop interagency collaborationwith shared responsibilities for services under this part andachievement of the client and cost outcome goals and interagencycollaboration goals specified. (b) Collaborative activities shall include: (1) Identification of those agencies that have a significant jointresponsibility for the target population and ensuring collaborationon planning for services to that population. (2) Identification of gaps in services to members of the targetpopulation, development of policies to assure service effectivenessand continuity, and setting priorities for interagency services. (3) Implementation of public and private collaborative programswhenever possible to better serve the target population. (4) Provision of interagency case management services tocoordinate resources to target population members who are using theservices of more than one agency. (5) Coordination with federal agencies responsible for providingveterans' services, as well as national, state, and local nonprofitorganizations that provide veterans' services, to maximize theintegration of services and to eliminate duplicative efforts.5808.  In order to reduce the state and county cost of a mentalhealth system of care, participating counties shall collectreimbursement for services from clients which shall be the same aspatient fees established pursuant to Section 5710, fees paid byprivate or public third-party payers, federal financial participationfor Medicaid or Medicare services or veterans' services, and otherfinancial sources when available.5809.  The State Department of Mental Health shall continue to workwith participating counties and other interested parties to refineand establish client and cost outcome and interagency collaborationgoals including the expected level of attainment with participatingsystem of care counties. These outcome measures should includespecific objectives addressing the following goals: (a) Client benefit outcomes. (b) Client and family member satisfaction. (c) System of care access. (d) Cost savings, cost avoidance, and cost-effectiveness outcomesthat measure short-term or long-term cost savings and cost avoidanceachieved in public sector expenditures to the target population.