1797.119.
(a) The California Health and Human Services Agency shall convene, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Emergency Medical Services Authority, a working group composed of no more than 14 members no later than July 1, 2022, to examine the existing dispatch and response protocols when providing emergency medical services to an individual who may require evaluation and treatment for a mental health disorder. The working group shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:(1) Representatives of law enforcement agencies.
(2) Representatives of county behavioral health
agencies.
(3) Public first responder personnel and providers.
(4) Private first responder personnel and providers.
(5) Groups and stakeholders that provide benefits, services, and advocacy to individuals experiencing severe mental illness and who advocate for the civil and legal rights of those individuals. The number of representatives described in this paragraph who are members of the working groups shall be equal to, or greater than, the number of representatives described in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive.
(b) (1) The working group shall develop recommendations for improvements
the following:
(A) Improvements to dispatch and response protocols related to providing services to individuals who may require evaluation and treatment for a mental health disorder, determine what, disorder.
(B) What, if any, additional training and education of
first responder personnel and providers is necessary and what, necessary.
(C) What, if any, amendments
to existing law, including, but not limited to, Section 5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code Code, are necessary to ensure the best and most efficacious response to, and support of, individuals suffering a mental health crisis while protecting the civil liberties of those individuals. In
(2) In developing the recommendations, the
working group shall also take into account the
all of the following:
(A) The safety of first responder personnel and providers and individuals providers.
(B) The safety of individuals who are experiencing severe mental illness.
(C) The efficacy of innovative local models, including crisis intervention teams, for responding and providing services to people experiencing mental health or substance abuse crises in use in local jurisdictions within, and outside of, California.
(2)
(3) In developing recommendations pursuant to paragraph (1), the working group may consult with other individuals, groups, or organizations for additional insight or expertise on issues under consideration by the working group.
(3)
(4) The recommendations developed pursuant to paragraph (1) shall reflect the consensus of the working group. At its initial meeting, the working group shall establish how consensus will be determined and create a guiding framework for determining if there is consensus.
(c) (1) (A) The working group shall submit a periodic report to update the Legislature on its progress every six months, beginning six months after the working group is first convened, until it submits the report required by subparagraph (B).
(B) The working group shall submit a final report to the Legislature with the recommendations developed pursuant to subdivision
(b) on or before January 1, 2024.
(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.