SECTIONS 7350-7362 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 7350-7362

7350. The provisions of this article except for Section 7355 shall
not apply to any patient held upon an order of a court or judge in a
proceeding arising out of a criminal action.

7351. Wherever in any provision of this code heretofore or
hereafter enacted the term "parole" is used in relation to the
release of a patient from a state hospital, it shall be construed to
refer to and mean "leave of absence." Any judicially committed
patient or mentally retarded patient granted a leave of absence on or
after July 1, 1969, and any patient on leave of absence as of July
1, 1969, may at any time during the period of the leave of absence be
recalled and returned to the hospital.
Upon the release of a judicially committed patient as granted by
the medical director of a state hospital, on leave of absence or
discharge upon any of the grounds provided in this article, in
accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by the
department, the superintendent shall issue to or on behalf of the
judicially committed patient a document stating the general terms or
limitations of the leave of absence, or a certificate stating the
general condition of or the reason for the discharge of the
judicially committed patient.

7352. The medical director of a state hospital for the mentally
disordered may grant a leave of absence to any judicially committed
patient, except as provided in Section 7350, under general conditions
prescribed by the State Department of Mental Health.
The State Department of Mental Health may continue to render
services to patients placed on leave of absence prior to July 1,
1969, to the extent such services are authorized by law in effect
immediately preceding July 1, 1969.

7352.5. The medical director of a state hospital for the
developmentally disabled may grant a leave of absence to any
developmentally disabled patient or judicially committed patient,
except as provided in Section 7350, under general conditions
prescribed by the State Department of Developmental Services.
The State Department of Developmental Services may continue to
render services to patients placed on leave of absence prior to July
1, 1969, to the extent such services are authorized by law in effect
immediately preceding July 1, 1969.

7353. The State Department of Mental Health shall pay the premium
for third-party health coverage for Medicare beneficiaries who are
patients at state hospitals under the jurisdiction of the State
Department of Mental Health. The department shall, when a mental
health state hospital patient's coverage would lapse due to lack of
sufficient income or financial resources, or any other reason,
continue the health coverage by paying the costs of continuation or
group coverage pursuant to federal law or converting from a group to
an individual plan.

7354. Any mentally disordered person may be granted care in a
licensed institution or other suitable licensed or certified
facility. The State Department of Mental Health may pay for such care
at a rate not exceeding the average cost of care of patients in the
state hospitals as determined by the Director of Mental Health. Such
payments shall be made from funds available to the State Department
of Mental Health for that purpose.
The State Department of Mental Health may make payments for
services for mentally disordered patients in private facilities
released or discharged from state hospitals on the basis of
reimbursement for reasonable cost, using the same standards and rates
consistent with those established by the State Department of Health
Services for similar types of care. Such payments shall be made
within the limitation of funds appropriated to the State Department
of Mental Health for that purpose.
No payments for care or services of a mentally disordered patient
shall be made by the State Department of Mental Health pursuant to
this section unless such care or services are requested by the local
director of the mental health services of the county of the patient's
residence, unless provision for such care or services is made in the
county Short-Doyle plan of the county under which the county shall
reimburse the department for 10 percent of the amount expended by the
department, exclusive of such portion of the cost as is provided by
the federal government.
The provision for such 10-percent county share shall be
inapplicable with respect to any county with a population of under
100,000 which has not elected to participate financially in providing
services under Division 5 (commencing with Section 5000) in
accordance with Section 5709.5.

7354.5. Any developmentally disabled person may be granted care in
a licensed institution or other suitably licensed or certified
facility. The State Department of Developmental Services may pay for
such care at a rate not exceeding the average cost of care of
patients in the state hospitals as determined by the Director of
Developmental Services. Such payments shall be made from funds
available to the State Department of Developmental Services for that
purpose.
The State Department of Developmental Services may make payments
for services for developmentally disabled patients in private
facilities released or discharged from state hospitals on the basis
of reimbursement for reasonable cost, using the same standards and
rates consistent with those established by the State Department of
Developmental Services for similar types of care. Such payments shall
be made within the limitation of funds appropriated to the State
Department of Developmental Services for that purpose. No payments
for care or services of a developmentally disabled person shall be
made by the State Department of Developmental Services pursuant to
this section, unless requested by the regional center having
jurisdiction over the patient and provision for such care or services
is made in the areawide plan for the developmentally disabled.

7355. No patient shall be discharged or, granted a leave of
absence, or placed on parole or outpatient care from a state hospital
without suitable clothing adapted to the season in which he is
discharged; and, if it cannot otherwise be obtained, the
superintendent, under general conditions prescribed by the department
having jurisdiction of the hospital, shall furnish such clothing and
money, not exceeding fifty dollars ($50), to defray the necessary
expenses of such patient who is going on leave of absence, parole or
outpatient care or is to be discharged, until he can reach his
relatives or friends, or find employment to earn a subsistence.
The superintendent may, under general conditions prescribed by the
department having jurisdiction of the hospital, furnish to patients
while on leave of absence such incidental moneys, supplies or
services as are necessary and advisable in the care, supervision and
rehabilitation of such patients on leave of absence. Payments
therefor shall be made from funds available for support of patients
in the state hospital or hospitals from which such patients have been
granted a leave of absence.

7356. The charges for the care and keeping of persons on leave of
absence from a state hospital where the State Department of Mental
Health, the State Department of Developmental Services, or the State
Department of Social Services pays for such care shall be a liability
of such person, his estate, and relatives, to the same extent that
such liability exists for patients in state hospitals.
The State Department of Mental Health shall collect or adjust such
charges in accordance with Article 4 (commencing with Section 7275)
of Chapter 3 of this division.

7357. The superintendent of a state hospital, on filing his written
certificate with the Director of Mental Health, may discharge any
patient who, in his judgment, has recovered or was not, at time of
admission, mentally disordered.

7359. The superintendent of a state hospital, on filing his written
certificate with the Director of Mental Health, may discharge as
improved, or may discharge as unimproved, as the case may be, any
judicially committed patient who is not recovered, but whose
discharge, in the judgment of the superintendent, will not be
detrimental to the public welfare, or injurious to the patient.

7360. The medical superintendent shall not refuse to discharge any
judicially committed patient as improved, on the ground that the
guardian, friends, or relatives of the patient are not financially
able and willing to care properly for the patient after his
discharge. Any patient whose condition has improved so as to render
him eligible for discharge under Section 7359 and whose guardian,
friends, or relatives are not financially able and willing to care
properly for him after his discharge shall be returned to the county
from which he was committed, at the expense of the county, and shall
be cared for by the county as are other indigent persons.

7361. When the superintendent is unwilling to certify to the
discharge of an unrecovered judicially committed patient, upon
request, and so certifies in writing, giving his reasons therefor,
any superior judge of the county in which the hospital is situated,
upon such certificate, and upon any other proofs produced before him,
after affording opportunity for a hearing to the superintendent, may
direct, by order, the discharge of the patient, upon such security
to the people of the state as he may require for the good behavior
and maintenance of the patient. The certificate and the proof, and
the order granted thereon, shall be filed in the clerk's office of
the county in which the hospital is situated, and a certified copy of
the order shall be filed in the hospital from which the patient is
discharged.

7362. The medical superintendent of a state hospital, on filing his
written certificate with the Director of Mental Health, may on his
own motion, and shall on the order of the State Department of Mental
Health, discharge any patient who comes within any of the following
descriptions:
(a) Who is not a proper case for treatment therein.
(b) Who is developmentally disabled or is affected with a chronic
harmless mental disorder.
Such person, when discharged, shall be returned to the county of
his residence at the expense of such county, and delivered to the
sheriff or other appropriate county official to be designated by the
board of supervisors, for delivery to the official or agency in that
county charged with the responsibility for such person. Should such
person be a poor and indigent person, he shall be cared for by such
county as are other indigent poor.
No person who has been discharged from any state hospital under
the provisions of subdivision (b) above shall be again committed to
any state hospital for the mentally disordered unless he is subject
to judicial commitment.