SECTIONS 5260-5268 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 5260-5268

5260. At the expiration of the 14-day period of intensive treatment
any person who, as a result of mental disorder or impairment by
chronic alcoholism, during the 14-day period or the 72-hour
evaluation period, threatened or attempted to take his own life or
who was detained for evaluation and treatment because he threatened
or attempted to take his own life and who continues to present an
imminent threat of taking his own life, may be confined for further
intensive treatment pursuant to this article for an additional period
not to exceed 14 days.
Such further intensive treatment may occur only under the
following conditions:
(a) The professional staff of the agency or facility providing
intensive treatment services has analyzed the person's condition and
has found that the person presents an imminent threat of taking his
own life.
(b) The person has been advised of, but has not accepted,
voluntary treatment.
(c) The facility providing additional intensive treatment is
equipped and staffed to provide treatment, is designated by the
county to provide such intensive treatment, and agrees to admit the
person.
(d) The person has, as a result of mental disorder or impairment
by chronic alcoholism, threatened or attempted to take his own life
during the 14-day period of intensive treatment or the 72-hour
evaluation period or was detained for evaluation and treatment
because he threatened or attempted to take his own life.

5261. For a person to be certified under this article, a second
notice of certification must be signed by the professional person in
charge of the facility providing 14-day intensive treatment under
Article 4 (commencing with Section 5250) to the person and by a
physician, if possible a board-qualified psychiatrist or a licensed
psychologist who has a doctoral degree in psychology and at least
five years of postgraduate experience in the diagnosis and treatment
of emotional and mental disorders. The physician or psychologist who
signs shall have participated in the evaluation and finding referred
to in subdivision (a) of Section 5260.
If the professional person in charge is the physician who
performed the medical evaluation and finding or a psychologist, the
second person to sign may be another physician or psychologist unless
one is not available, in which case a social worker or a registered
nurse who participated in such evaluation and finding shall sign the
notice of certification.

5262. A second notice of certification for imminently suicidal
persons is required for all involuntary 14-day intensive treatment,
pursuant to this article, and shall be in substantially the following
form:

To the Superior Court of the State of
California
for the County of ______
The authorized agency providing 14-day intensive
treatment,
County of _________, has custody of: _________
Name _____________________________________________
Address __________________________________________
Age ____________________
Sex ____________________
Marital status ____________________________
Religious affiliation
_________________________________
The undersigned allege that the above-named
person presents
an imminent threat of taking his own life.
This allegation is based upon the following facts:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
This allegation is supported by the accompanying
affidavits
signed by _______________________________.
The above-named person has been informed of this
allegation
and has been advised of, but has not been able or
willing to accept
referral to, the following services:
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________
We, therefore, certify the above-named person to
receive
additional intensive treatment for no more than
14 days beginning
this ______ day of __________________, 19 _____,
in the intensive treatment
(Month)
facility herein named
__________.
We hereby state that a copy of this notice has
been delivered this
day to the above-named person and that he has
been clearly
advised of his continuing legal right to a
judicial review by habeas
corpus, and this term has been explained to him.
_________________(Date)
Signed
__________________________________________________
Countersigned ____________________________________
Representing intensive treatment facility

5263. Copies of the second notice of certification for imminently
suicidal persons, as set forth in Section 5262, shall be filed with
the court and personally delivered to the person certified. A copy
shall also be sent to the person's attorney, to the district
attorney, to the public defender, if any, and to the facility
providing intensive treatment.
The person certified shall also be asked to designate any person
who is to be sent a copy of the certification notice. If the person
certified is incapable of making such a designation at the time of
certification, he or she shall be asked to designate such person as
soon as he or she is capable.

5264. (a) A certification for imminently suicidal persons shall be
for no more than 14 days of intensive treatment, and shall terminate
only as soon as the psychiatrist directly responsible for the person'
s treatment believes, as a result of the psychiatrist's personal
observations, that the person has improved sufficiently for him or
her to leave, or is prepared to voluntarily accept treatment on
referral or to remain on a voluntary basis in the facility providing
intensive treatment. However, in those situations in which both a
psychiatrist and psychologist have personally evaluated or examined a
person who is undergoing intensive treatment and there is a
collaborative treatment relationship between the psychiatrist and
psychologist, either the psychiatrist or psychologist may authorize
the release of the person, but only after they have consulted with
one another. In the event of a clinical or professional disagreement
regarding the early release of a person who is undergoing intensive
treatment, the person may not be released unless the facility's
medical director overrules the decision of the psychiatrist or
psychologist opposing the release. Both the psychiatrist and
psychologist shall enter their findings, concerns, or objections into
the person's medical record. If any other professional person who is
authorized to release the person believes the person should be
released before 14 days have elapsed, and the psychiatrist directly
responsible for the person's treatment objects, the matter shall be
referred to the medical director of the facility for the final
decision. However, if the medical director is not a psychiatrist, he
or she shall appoint a designee who is a psychiatrist. If the matter
is referred, the person shall be released before 14 days have elapsed
only if the psychiatrist believes, as a result of the psychiatrist's
personal observations, that the person has improved sufficiently for
him or her to leave, or is prepared to accept voluntary treatment on
referral or to remain in the facility providing intensive treatment
on a voluntary basis.
(b) Any person who has been certified for 14 days of intensive
treatment under this article and to whom Section 5226.1 is not
applicable, or with respect to whom the criminal charge has been
dismissed under Section 5226.1, shall be released at the end of the
14 days unless any of the following applies:
(1) The patient agrees to receive further treatment on a voluntary
basis.
(2) The patient has been recommended for conservatorship pursuant
to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 5350).
(3) The patient is a person to whom Article 6 (commencing with
Section 5300) of this chapter is applicable.
(c) The amendments to this section made by Assembly Bill 348 of
the 2003-04 Regular Session shall not be construed to revise or
expand the scope of practice of psychologists, as defined in Chapter
6.6 (commencing with Section 2900) of Division 2 of the Business and
Professions Code.

5265. Any individual who is knowingly and willfully responsible for
detaining a person for more than 14 days in violation of the
provisions of Section 5264 is liable to that person in civil damages.

5266. Whenever a county designates two or more facilities to
provide intensive treatment and the person to be treated, his family,
conservator or guardian expresses a preference for one such
facility, the professional person certifying the person to be treated
shall attempt, if administratively possible, to comply with the
preference.

5267. (a) Notwithstanding Section 5113, if the provisions of
Section 5264 have been met, the professional person in charge of the
facility providing intensive treatment, his or her designee, the
medical director of the facility or his or her designee described in
Section 5264, the psychiatrist directly responsible for the person's
treatment, or the psychologist shall not be held civilly or
criminally liable for any action by a person released before the end
of 14 days pursuant to this article.
(b) The professional person in charge of the facility providing
intensive treatment, his or her designee, the medical director of the
facility or his or her designee described in Section 5264, the
psychiatrist directly responsible for the person's treatment, or the
psychologist shall not be held civilly or criminally liable for any
action by a person released at the end of 14 days pursuant to this
article.
(c) The amendments to this section made by Assembly Bill 348 of
the 2003-04 Regular Session shall not be construed to revise or
expand the scope of practice of psychologists, as defined in Chapter
6.6 (commencing with Section 2900) of Division 2 of the Business and
Professions Code.

5268. Nothing in this article shall prohibit the professional
person in charge of an intensive treatment facility, or his designee,
from permitting a person certified for intensive treatment to leave
the facility for short periods during the person's involuntary
intensive treatment.