BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                      AB 59


                                                                    Page  1





          Date of Hearing:  January 21, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          59 (Waldron) - As Amended January 6, 2016


           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Policy       |Health                         |Vote:|16 - 0       |
          |Committee:   |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
          |             |Judiciary                      |     |7 - 0        |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill authorizes the Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT)  
          Demonstration Project Act ("Laura's Law") for an additional five  
          years, until January 1, 2022 and removes a duplicative reporting  
          requirement.  








                                                                      AB 59


                                                                    Page  2







          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Negligible state fiscal effect.  


          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose. The author wishes to extend the sunset on local AOT  
            programs, pointing to their recent expansion and success at  
            assisting certain mentally ill individuals to be successfully  
            treated on an outpatient basis.   

          2)Background. Laura's Law permits counties to provide  
            court-ordered outpatient treatment services for people with  
            serious mental illness.  Enacted in 2002, Laura's Law was  
            named for Laura Wilcox, a 19-year-old college student in  
            Nevada County who was killed by a severely mentally ill man  
            who was not adhering to prescribed mental health treatment.   
            To implement an AOT order, a court must find that a person's  
            recent history of hospitalizations or violent behavior,  
            coupled with noncompliance with voluntary treatment, indicates  
            the person is likely to become dangerous or gravely disabled  
            without treatment.  The intent of Laura's Law is to prevent a  
            small number of individuals who meet narrow eligibility  
            criteria from becoming gravely disabled or threatening.  A  
            county board of supervisors must pass a resolution in order to  
            implement Laura's Law.  To date, about nine counties have  
            implemented Laura's Law in some form; counties have generally  
            configured the implementation to align with local priorities.  
            According to the author, additional counties are formally  
            considering implementation. 

          3)Appropriation. Existing law authorizes counties to use Mental  
            Health Services Act (MHSA) and Local Revenue Fund monies to be  
            used for the AOT program.  Because these funds are  








                                                                      AB 59


                                                                    Page  3





            continuously appropriated and the bill extends the  
            authorization to pay for AOT services with these funds, this  
            bill is tagged as an appropriation. However, the bill does not  
            directly appropriate funds nor does it result in increased  
            costs or funding for AOT.   
          


          4)Support and Opposition. This bill is supported by counties and  
            emergency physicians. Disability Rights California opposes  
            this bill, citing concern about AOT programs and a preference  
            for expansion of voluntary services.  Additional support and  
            opposition was expressed to a previous version of this bill.  
          


          5)Prior Legislation.  



             a)   AB 1193 (Eggman) of 2015 required counties to hold a  
               public hearing to consider implementing AOT, allowed  
               specified judges to file petitions for an AOT order, and  
               extended the sunset on AOT for five years. AB 1193 was held  
               on the Suspense File of this committee. 

             b)   AB 2266 (Waldron, 2014) and AB 1265 (Conway, 2013) both  
               increased the maximum period of imposed outpatient  
               treatment under the AOT Demonstration Project from six  
               months to one year.  Both failed in the Assembly Judiciary  
               Committee.

             c)   SB 535 (Steinberg and Correa), Chapter 288, Statutes of  
               2013 specified certain funds may can be used for AOT  
               services.
          


          Analysis Prepared by:Lisa Murawski / APPR. / (916)  








                                                                      AB 59


                                                                    Page  4





          319-2081