SECTIONS 4240-4245 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 4240-4245

4240. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The symptoms and behaviors of persons with serious mental
disorders may cause severe disruption of normal family relationships.
(b) Families are often the principal caregivers, housing
providers, and case managers for family members with serious mental
disorders.
(c) Families of persons with serious mental disorders more often
than not have little or no legal authority over their adult mentally
disordered and sometimes difficult to manage family members and
consequently need advice, skills, emotional support, and guidance to
cope with the stressful burden of caregiving in order to be effective
and helpful.
(d) Involved families are of inestimable value to the publicly
funded and professionally operated state and county mental health
system and programs emphasizing self-help can be the best way to
assist families in maintaining the cohesion of family life while
caring for and assisting a mentally disordered family member.
(e) Since the state's mental health resources are limited and are
increasingly being directed on a priority basis toward provision of
services to persons with serious mental disorders, informed and
active families helping one another can effectively extend and
amplify the value of state mental health dollars.

4241. It is the intent of the Legislature, by this chapter, to
support an organized program of self-help in which families exchange
information, advice, and emotional support to enable them to maintain
and strengthen family life and secure or provide more effective
treatment, care, and rehabilitation for mentally disordered family
members.
It is further the intent of the Legislature to utilize an existing
organized statewide network of families, who have mentally
disordered family members, as a means of delivering the services
designated in this chapter.

4242. As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(a) "Family" means persons whose children, spouses, siblings,
parents, grandparents, or grandchildren have a serious mental
disorder.
(b) "Serious mental disorder" means a mental disorder that is
severe in degree and persistent in duration and that may cause
behavioral disorder or impair functioning so as to interfere
substantially with activities of daily living. Serious mental
disorders include schizophrenia, major affective disorders, and other
severely disabling mental disorders.

4243. (a) All funds appropriated for the purposes of this chapter
shall be used to contract with an organization to establish a
statewide network of families who have mentally disordered family
members for the purpose of providing information, advice, support,
and other assistance to these families.
(b) A request for proposal shall be issued seeking applicants who
are capable of supplying the services specified in Section 4244. The
respondent organizations shall demonstrate that they:
(1) Focus their activities exclusively on the seriously mentally
disordered.
(2) Have experience in successfully working with state agencies,
including, but not limited to, the State Department of Mental Health.
(3) Have the ability to reach and involve the target population as
active members.
(4) Have proven experience providing structured self-help services
that benefit the target population.
(5) Have experience holding statewide and local conferences to
educate families and professionals regarding the needs of the
mentally disordered.
(6) Have the financial and organizational structure and experience
to manage the funds provided under the proposed contract.

4244. The Director of Mental Health shall enter into a contract
with the successful bidder to provide services which shall include,
but not be necessarily limited to, all of the following:
(a) Production and statewide dissemination of information to
families regarding methods of obtaining and evaluating services
needed by mentally disordered family members.
(b) Provision of timely advice, counseling, and other supportive
services to assist families in coping with emotional stress and to
enable them to care for or otherwise assist mentally disordered
family members.
(c) Organizing family self-help services in local communities,
accessible to families throughout the state.
(d) Conducting training programs for mental health practitioners
and college and university students to inform current and future
mental health professionals of the needs of families and methods of
utilizing family resources to assist mentally disordered clients.

4245. Contracts entered in pursuant to this chapter shall:
(a) Have an annual contract period from July 1 through June 30 of
each fiscal year unless the Director of Mental Health or the
contractor terminates the contract earlier.
(b) Require an annual report by the contractor accounting for all
expenditures and program accomplishments.