LA County Board

14. Acting to Expand Services for the Misdemeanor Incompetent to Stand\nTrial Population\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisor Mitchell: Adopt and swiftly\nimplement the next step recommendations in the November 18, 2022,\nDepartment of Health Services (DHS) and Department of Mental Health (DMH)\nreport entitled, “Swiftly Creating More Beds for Persons Mentally Incompetent to\nStand Trial with Newly Available State Funding” (Report), by taking the following\nactions:\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer to allocate $50,000,000 from California\nAssembly Bill 178 funds to DHS and DMH in the 2022-23 Mid-Year\nBudget Adjustment, once any required executed agreement with the\nState is available, so that the Departments can begin providing services\nin Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23 to support urgently needed Misdemeanor\nIncompetent to Stand (MIST) program operations and staffing, in\nalignment with the plan outlined in the Report; and\nDirect the Chief Executive Officer to authorize the Director of Health\nServices and the Interim Director of Mental Health to hire the eight\npositions identified in the Report via the Ordinance Position Authority and\nauthorize the Director and Interim Director to immediately recruit\npositions utilizing ordinance only positions;\nAuthorize the Director of Health Services and the Interim Director of Mental\nHealth, to negotiate and execute agreements with qualified Mental Health\nproviders to provide acute hospital transitional beds to carry out the intent of the\nBoard in adopting the plan, with the foregoing delegated authority to include\nauthority to negotiate, on a case-by-case basis, appropriate changes to the\nstandard County insurance and indemnification provisions, and other standard\nCounty contract terms;\nInstruct the Director of Health Services and the Interim Director of Mental\nHealth, to report back to the Board in writing in six months after implementation\nof the plan, and quarterly thereafter, on key metrics such as: the number of\nMIST beds created, the contracted agencies providing services, the\ndemographics of persons being served, the amount, average length of stay, and\ntypes of services (e.g. enhanced clinical care, inpatient care, mental health\nstabilization housing and supportive interim housing) provided, the number of\nclients referred to DMH Intensive Care Division, Lanterman-Petris-Short\nconservatorship, Assisted Outpatient Treatment, and community-based\ntreatment, and funding balance; and\nInstruct the Director of Health Services and the Interim Director of Mental\nHealth, to report back to the Board in writing in six months, and quarterly\nthereafter, if needed, on sustainable funding sources to support this program\nbeyond FY 2025-26, when the one-time funding is expected to be fully\nexhausted, including strategies to explore all available potential State and\nFederal funding sources that will ensure the County has ongoing funds to carry\non at least the same level of services for the program when this current\none-time State funding is depleted; and coordinate with the Interim County\nCounsel to ensure implementation complies with the Budget Act of 2022,\nAssembly Bill 178 and State guidance. (23-0326)\nAttachments: Motion by Supervisor Mitchell\nDepartment of Health Services November 18, 2022 Report\nPublic Comment/Correspondence