SECTIONS 4000-4027 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 4000-4027

4000. There is in the Health and Welfare Agency a State Department
of Mental Health.

4001. As used in this division:
(a) "Department" means the State Department of Mental Health.
(b) "Director" means the Director of Mental Health.
(c) "State hospital" means any hospital specified in Section 4100.

4004. The department is under the control of an executive officer
known as the Director of Mental Health.

4005. With the consent of the Senate, the Governor shall appoint,
to serve at his pleasure, the Director of Mental Health. He shall
have the powers of a head of a department pursuant to Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 11150), Part 1, Division 3, Title 2 of the
Government Code, and shall receive the salary provided for by Chapter
6 (commencing with Section 11550), Part 1, Division 3, Title 2 of
the Government Code.
Upon recommendation of the director, the Governor may appoint a
chief deputy director of the department who shall hold office at the
pleasure of the Governor. The salary of the chief deputy director
shall be fixed in accordance with law.

4005.1. The department may adopt and enforce rules and regulations
necessary to carry out its duties under this division.

4005.4. All regulations heretofore adopted by the State Department
of Health pursuant to authority now vested in the State Department of
Mental Health by Section 4005.1 and in effect immediately preceding
the operative date of this section, shall remain in effect and shall
be fully enforceable unless and until readopted, amended or repealed
by the Director of Mental Health.

4006. With the approval of the Department of Finance and for use in
the furtherance of the work of the State Department of Mental
Health, the director may accept any or all of the following:
(a) Grants of interest in real property.
(b) Grants of money received by this state from the United States,
the expenditure of which is administered through or under the
direction of any department of this state.
(c) Gifts of money from public agencies or from persons,
organizations, or associations interested in the scientific,
educational, charitable, or mental health fields.

4007. The department may expend in accordance with law all money
now or hereafter made available for its use, or for the
administration of any statute administered by the department.

4008. (a) The department may expend money in accordance with law
for the actual and necessary travel expenses of officers and
employees of the department who are authorized to absent themselves
from the State of California on official business.
(b) For the purposes of this section and of Sections 11030 and
11032 of the Government Code, the following constitutes, among other
purposes, official business for officers and employees of the
department for which these officers and employees shall be allowed
actual and necessary traveling expenses when incurred either in or
out of this state upon approval of the Governor and Director of
Finance:
(1) Attending meetings of any national or regional association or
organization having as its principal purpose the study of matters
relating to the care and treatment of mentally ill persons.
(2) Conferring with officers or employees of the United States or
other states, relative to problems of institutional care, treatment
or management.
(3) Obtaining information from organizations, associations, or
persons described in paragraphs (1) and (2) which would be useful in
the conduct of the activities of the State Department of Mental
Health.

4009. The department may appoint and fix the compensation of such
employees as it deems necessary, subject to the laws governing civil
service.

4010. Except as in this chapter otherwise prescribed, the
provisions of the Government Code relating to state officers and
departments shall apply to the State Department of Mental Health.

4011. Unless otherwise indicated in this code, the State Department
of Mental Health has jurisdiction over the execution of the laws
relating to the care, custody, and treatment of mentally disordered
persons, as provided in this code.
As used in this division, "establishment" and "institution"
include every hospital, sanitarium, boarding home, or other place
receiving or caring for mentally disordered persons.

4011.5. In counties where State Department of Mental Health
hospitals are located, the state hospitals shall ensure that
appropriate special education and related services, pursuant to
Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 56850) of Part 30 of the Education
Code, are provided eligible individuals with exceptional needs
residing in state hospitals.

4012. The State Department of Mental Health may:
(a) Disseminate educational information relating to the
prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental disorder.
(b) Upon request, advise all public officers, organizations and
agencies interested in the mental health of the people of the state.
(c) Conduct such educational and related work as will tend to
encourage the development of proper mental health facilities
throughout the state.
(d) Coordinate state activities involving other departments whose
actions affect mentally ill persons.
(e) Coordinate with, and provide information to, other states and
national organizations, on issues involving mental health.
(f) Disseminate information and federal and private foundation
funding opportunities to counties and cities that administer mental
health programs.

4012.5. The State Department of Mental Health may obtain
psychiatric, medical and other necessary aftercare services for
judicially committed patients on leave of absence from state
hospitals by contracting with any city, county, local health
district, or other public officer or agency, or with any private
person or agency to furnish such services to patients in or near the
home community of the patient. Any city, county, local health
district, or other public officer or agency authorized by law to
provide mental health and aftercare services is authorized to enter
such contracts.

4015. (a) The State Department of Mental Health shall, in
coordination with the task force described in subdivision (c) and
with other state entities, including, but not limited to, the
Department of General Services, the State Department of Developmental
Services, the Secretary of State, and the California State Library,
do all of the following:
(1) Conduct and complete inventories of all of the following:
(A) All materials and records necessary to create the most
complete record of persons who died while residing at any state
hospital as defined in Section 7200, or any developmental center as
defined in Section 4440.
(B) Within existing resources, identify the location of all
gravesites at existing state hospitals and developmental center lands
and of gravesites not located on state lands but designated by the
state for burial of state hospital or developmental center residents.
This shall include the location of remains that may have been moved
from their original burial site and the location of grave markers
that may have been moved from gravesites.
(C) Within existing resources, identify the names of patients
whose remains were donated for medical research, the entity to which
the remains were donated, and the final disposition of those remains.
(2) Assist and cooperate with the California Memorial Project in
conducting research regarding the records of deaths and burials of
persons at state hospitals and developmental centers and cemeteries
based on the grounds of these facilities. This assistance shall,
subject to paragraph (3), include the granting of access to those
state records as necessary to perform the inventories described in
this section.
(3) Notwithstanding Sections 4514 and 5328 or any other provision
of law regarding confidentiality of patient records, the information
described in this section shall be limited to the name, date of
birth, date of death, and photographic images of any person who died
while in residency at any state hospital or developmental center and
shall be made available for the purposes of the implementation of
this section. The exportation and use of these records or
photographic images from state facilities shall be limited to the
information delineated within, and the purposes of, this section.
(4) Assist the California Memorial Project in developing a plan
for the restoration of gravesites and cemeteries at state hospitals
and developmental centers and gravesites not located on state lands
but designated by the state for burial of state hospital or
developmental center residents.
(5) Notwithstanding Sections 4514 and 5328 or any other provision
of law governing the confidentiality of patient records, with respect
to any monument or memorial erected consistent with this section,
the department may include, if available, the name, date of birth,
and date of death, of any person being memorialized who died while in
residency at a state hospital or developmental center and who was
buried by the state.
(6) Develop a protocol for the future interment of patients who
die while residing at a state hospital or developmental center and
are unclaimed by a family member.
(b) The department may develop a protocol to coordinate the
efforts of the state entities described in subdivision (a).
(c) (1) The department shall establish a task force to provide
leadership and direction in carrying out the activities described in
this section. The task force shall consist of representatives
selected by each of the following entities:
(A) The Peer Self-Advocacy Unit of Protection and Advocacy, Inc.
(B) California Network of Mental Health Clients.
(C) Capitol People First.
(2) To the extent that funding is available, task force members
shall be reimbursed for necessary travel expenses associated with
serving on the task force. When requested by a task force member with
a disability, the state shall pay the cost of a facilitator chosen
by the task force member.
(d) In implementing this section, the state shall make no
structural changes to existing gravesites on state hospital or
developmental center lands prior to the submission of, and which do
not conform with, the restoration plan described in paragraph (4) of
subdivision (a).
(e) Pursuant to the plan described in paragraph (4) of subdivision
(a), the department shall seek funding for this section from the
California Cultural and Historical Endowment, in addition to any
other resources that may be available to the department, excluding
General Fund moneys, to restore, preserve, and memorialize the
gravesite located at Napa State Hospital.
(f) The department shall submit a status update on the
implementation of this section, including a description of barriers,
if any, to conducting the activities described in this section, to
the Legislature by January 31, 2004.

4016. In every place in which a mentally disordered person may be
involuntarily held, the persons confined therein shall be permitted
access to and examination or inspection of copies of this code.

4017. (a) The department may provide information to the Controller
to guide distribution of resources dedicated for mental health
services under Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 17600) of Part 5 of
Division 9, and may distribute to a county or combination of
counties acting jointly resources described in Part 2 (commencing
with Section 5600) of Division 5, pursuant to Section 5701.
(b) The department may contract with a county or combination of
counties for services described in this division and Division 5
(commencing with Section 5000), to the extent that those services are
funded directly by the department.

4021. When the department has reason to believe that any person
held in custody as mentally disordered is wrongfully deprived of his
liberty, or is cruelly or negligently treated, or that inadequate
provision is made for the skillful medical care, proper supervision,
and safekeeping of any such person, it may ascertain the facts. It
may issue compulsory process for the attendance of witnesses and the
production of papers, and may exercise the powers conferred upon a
referee in a superior court. It may make such orders for the care and
treatment of such person as it deems proper.
Whenever the department undertakes an investigation into the
general management and administration of any establishment or place
of detention for the mentally disordered, it may give notice of such
investigation to the Attorney General, who shall appear personally or
by deputy, to examine witnesses in attendance and to assist the
department in the exercise of the powers conferred upon it in this
code.

4022. When complaint is made to the department regarding the
officers or management of any hospital or institution for the
mentally disordered, or regarding the management of any person
detained therein or regarding any person held in custody as mentally
disordered, the department may, before making an examination
regarding such complaint, require it to be made in writing and sworn
to before an officer authorized to administer oaths. On receipt of
such a complaint, sworn to if so required, the department shall
direct that a copy of the complaint be served on the authorities of
the hospital or institution or the person against whom complaint is
made, together with notice of the time and place of the
investigation, as the department directs.

4024. The State Department of Mental Health proposed allocations
for level-of-care staffing in state hospitals that serve persons with
mental disabilities shall be submitted to the Department of Finance
for review and approval in July and again on a quarterly basis. Each
quarterly report shall include an analysis of client characteristics
of admissions and discharges in addition to information on any
changes in characteristics of current residents.
The State Department of Mental Health shall submit by January 1
and May 1 to the Department of Finance for its approval: (a) all
assumptions underlying estimates of state hospital mentally disabled
population; and (b) a comparison of the actual and estimated
population levels for the year to date. If the actual population
differs from the estimated population by 50 or more, the department
shall include in its reports an analysis of the causes of the change
and the fiscal impact. The Department of Finance shall approve or
modify the assumptions underlying all population estimates within 15
working days of their submission. If the Department of Finance does
not approve or modify the assumptions by such date, the assumptions,
as presented by the submitting department, shall be deemed to be
accepted by the Department of Finance as of that date. The estimates
of populations and the comparison of actual versus estimated
population levels shall be made available to the Joint Legislative
Budget Committee immediately following approval by the Department of
Finance.
The Department of Finance shall also make available to the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee a listing of all of the approved
assumptions and the impact of each assumption, as well as all
supporting data provided by the State Department of Mental Health or
developed independently by the Department of Finance. However, such
departmental estimates, assumptions, and other supporting data as
have been prepared shall be forwarded to the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee not later than January 15 or May 15 by the State
Department of Mental Health in the event this information has not
been released earlier.

4024.5. (a) The State Department of Mental Health and the State
Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, jointly, shall develop a
plan, by July 1, 1994, to appropriately combine funding from both
departments for the treatment of persons with multiple diagnoses.
(b) For purposes of this section, "multiple diagnoses" means
diagnoses of chronic mental illness together with substance abuse of
either illegal or legal drugs, including alcohol, or both.

4025. Charges made by the department for the care and treatment of
each patient in a facility maintained by the department shall not
exceed the actual cost thereof as determined by the director in
accordance with standard accounting practices. The director is not
prohibited from including the amount of expenditures for capital
outlay or the interest thereon, or both, in his determination of
actual cost.
As used in this section, the terms "care" and "care and treatment"
include care, treatment, support, maintenance, and other services
rendered by the department to a patient in the state hospital or
other facility maintained by or under the jurisdiction of the
department.

4027. The State Department of Mental Health may adopt regulations
concerning patients' rights and related procedures applicable to the
inpatient treatment of mentally ill offenders receiving treatment
pursuant to Sections 1026, 1026.2, 1364, 1370, 1610, and 2684 of the
Penal Code, Section 1756 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
persons receiving treatment as mentally disordered sex offenders, and
inmates of jail psychiatric units.