SECTIONS 5689-5689.9 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 5689-5689.9

5689. (a) The State Department of Mental Health shall establish and
administer an Older Adults System of Care Demonstration Project,
subject to funds appropriated for this purpose, that provides support
and funding to develop model systems of care to serve the target
population specified in Section 5689.2. Funds appropriated for
purposes of this article shall be used to support pilot projects that
address the specific needs of older adults with mental illness by
testing existing and new models for coordinated, comprehensive
service delivery.
(b) The project shall be designed to encourage the development and
testing of a coordinated, consumer-focused, comprehensive mental
health system of care consistent with the recommendations contained
in the California Mental Health Master Plans' Older Adult Chapter.

5689.1. The department shall establish a steering committee for the
purposes of this article.

5689.2. (a) The target population to be served pursuant to this
article shall be adults who are 60 years of age or older, diagnosed
with a mental disorder, as defined by the most current edition of the
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, who have a
functional impairment, and who meet any of the following criteria:
(1) Are severely and persistently disabled.
(2) Are acutely disabled.
(3) Are impacted by disasters or local emergencies.
(b) For purposes of this article, "functional impairment" means a
being substantially impaired in major life activities because of a
mental disorder in at least two of the following areas on a
continuing or intermittent basis:
(1) Independent living.
(2) Social and family relationships.
(3) Vocational skills, employment, or leisure activities.
(4) Basic living skills.
(5) Money management.
(6) Self-care capacities.
(7) Physical condition.

5689.3. The department shall seek proposals and competitively award
grants to local mental health departments for a period of up to
three years to implement this demonstration project. Grantees shall
be representative of different geographic areas of the state to the
extent resources are available. The department shall encourage
multicounty collaboration.

5689.4. Grantees shall establish or identify a Mental Health and
Aging Advisory Coalition comprised of pilot project participants,
public and private sector service providers, senior service
consortiums, commissions, boards, and advisory councils, consumers
and family members of consumers, mental health advocates, and other
stakeholders. This coalition shall be advisory to the county mental
health department. Coalition participants may include, but are not
limited to, area agencies on aging, adult day and adult day health
care programs, senior centers, public and private sector health
programs, mental health, aging, social service, legal service, and
public guardian programs, conservators, drug and alcohol programs,
senior ombudsmen, residential care facility operators, family
caregivers, family caregiver service providers, and other
stakeholders.

5689.5. (a) Each grantee shall identify collaborative efforts it
will undertake to link the Older Adult Mental Health System of Care
with other related planning and implementation efforts occurring
within the county, including, but not limited to, Long Term Care
Integration Pilot Project activities pursuant to Article 4.3
(commencing with Section 14139.05) of Chapter 7 of Part 3 of Division
9.
(b) Each grantee shall define its project goals and establish
client and system outcome measurements in collaboration with the
department.

5689.6. The department, in collaboration with the California Mental
Health Planning Council and the grantees, shall identify a set of
common data elements that will be used to collect, analyze, and
measure performance among grantees.

5689.7. (a) To the extent funds are available, evaluation shall be
conducted both by the participating county evaluation staff of each
participating county and by an independent evaluator contracted for
by the department.
(b) Evaluation at both the local and state levels shall assess the
extent to which:
(1) The county system of care is serving the targeting population.
(2) Timely performance data related to client outcomes and cost
avoidance is collected, analyzed, and reported.
(3) System of care components are implemented as intended.
(4) Information is collected that documents needs for future
planning.

5689.8. The department shall provide periodic progress reports and
recommendations on the status of the Demonstration Project provided
for in this article to the Long Term Care Coordination Council
pursuant to Section 12803.2 of the Government Code.

5689.9. The department shall provide periodic progress reports on
the status of the demonstration projects to all Demonstration Project
participants and mental health directors to increase statewide
awareness about mental health service development for older adults.
The department may provide copies of these reports to other
individuals or entities.