Cal. WIC § 5963.02 — California Code / Code wic / Division 5 / Part 7 / Chapter 3 / Article 2 / Section 5963.02
Section 5963.02
Status: in_force

(a) (1) Each county shall prepare and submit an integrated plan and annual updates to the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission and the department.

(2) All references to the three-year program and expenditure plan mean the integrated plan.

(3) Each county’s board of supervisors shall approve the integrated plan and annual updates by June 30 prior to the fiscal year or years the integrated plan or update would cover.

(4) A county shall not use the integrated plan to demonstrate compliance with federal law, state law, or requirements imposed by the department related to programs listed in subdivision (c).

(b) (1) Each section of the integrated plan and annual update listed in subdivision (c) shall be based on available funding or obligations under Section 30025 of the Government Code and corresponding contracts for the applicable fiscal years and in accordance with established stakeholder engagement and planning requirements as required in Section 5963.03.

(2) A county shall consider relevant data sources, including local data, to guide addressing local needs, including the prevalence of mental health and substance use disorders, the unmet need for mental health and substance use disorder treatment in the county, behavioral health disparities, and the homelessness point-in-time count, in preparing each integrated plan and annual update, and should use the data to demonstrate how the plan appropriately allocates funding between mental health and substance use disorder treatment services.

(3) A county shall consider the population needs assessment of each Medi-Cal managed care plan, as defined in subdivision (j) of Section 14184.101, that covers residents of the county in preparing each integrated plan and annual update.

(4) A county shall consider the community health improvement plan of the local health jurisdiction for the county in preparing each integrated plan and annual update.

(5) A county shall stratify data to identify behavioral health disparities and consider approaches to eliminate disparities, including, but not limited to, promising practices, models of care, community-defined evidence practices, workforce diversity, and cultural responsiveness in preparing each integrated plan and annual update.

(6) A county shall report and consider the achievement of defined goals and outcomes measures of the prior integrated plan and annual update, in addition to other data and information as specified by the department pursuant to Section 5963.05, in preparing each integrated plan and annual update.

(7) A county with a population greater than 200,000 shall collaborate with the five most populous cities in the county, managed care plans, and continuums of care to outline respective responsibilities and coordination of services related to housing interventions described in Section 5830.

(8) A county shall consider input and feedback into the plan provided by stakeholders, including, but not limited to, those with lived behavioral health experience, including peers and families.

(c) The integrated plan and annual updates shall include a section for each of the following:

(1) (A) Community mental health services provided pursuant to Part 2 (commencing with Section 5600).

(B) Programs and services funded from the Behavioral Health Services Fund pursuant to Section 5890, including a description of how the county meets the requirements of paragraph (7) of subdivision (b).

(C) Programs and services funded by the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness grant pursuant to Sections 290cc-21 to 290cc-35, inclusive, of Title 42 of the United States Code.

(D) Programs and services funded by the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant pursuant to Sections 300x to 300x-9, inclusive, of Title 42 of the United States Code.

(E) Programs and services funded by the Substance Abuse Block Grant pursuant to Sections 300x-21 to 300x-35, inclusive, of Title 42 of the United States Code.

(F) Programs and services provided pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 14680) of Chapter 8.8 of Part 3 of Division 9 and Chapter 8.9 (commencing with Section 14700) of Part 3 of Division 9.

(G) Programs and services provided pursuant to Article 3.2 (commencing with Section 14124.20) of Chapter 7 of Part 3 of Division 9.

(H) Programs and services provided pursuant to Section 14184.401.

(I) Programs and services funded by distributions from the Opioid Settlements Fund established pursuant to Section 12534 of the Government Code.

(J) Services provided through other federal grants or other county mental health and substance use disorder programs.

(2) A budget that includes the county planned expenditures and reserves for the county distributions from the Behavioral Health Service Fund and any other funds allocated to the county to provide the services and programs set forth in paragraph (1). The budget shall also include proposed adjustments pursuant to the requirements set forth in subdivision (c) of Section 5892 and subdivision (d) of Section 5892.2.

(3) (A) A description of how the integrated plan and annual update aligns with statewide behavioral health goals and outcome measures, including goals and outcome measures to reduce identified disparities, as defined by the department in consultation with counties, stakeholders, and the Behavioral Health Services and Oversight Accountability Commission, pursuant to Section 5963.05.

(B) Outcome measures may include, but are not limited to, measures that demonstrate achievement of goals to reduce homelessness among those eligible for housing interventions pursuant to Section 5830 and measures that demonstrate reductions in the number of people who are justice-involved in the county and who are eligible adults or older adults, as defined in Section 5892, or eligible children and youth, as defined in Section 5892.

(4) A description of how the integrated plan aligns with local goals and outcome measures for behavioral health, including goals and outcome measures to reduce identified disparities.

(5) The programs and services specified in paragraph (1) shall include descriptions of efforts to reduce identified disparities in behavioral health outcomes.

(6) A description of the data sources considered to meet the requirements specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b).

(7) A description of how the county has considered the unique needs of LGBTQ+ youth, justice-involved youth, child welfare-involved, justice-involved adults, and older adults in the housing intervention program pursuant to Part 3.2 (commencing with Section 5830) and Full Service Partnership program pursuant to Part 4.1 (commencing with Section 5887).

(8) A description of its workforce strategy, to include actions the county will take to ensure its county and noncounty contracted behavioral health workforce is well-supported and culturally and linguistically concordant with the population to be served, and robust enough to achieve the statewide and local behavioral health goals and measures. This description shall include how the county will do all of the following:

(A) Maintain and monitor a network of appropriate, high-quality, culturally and linguistically concordant county and noncounty contracted providers, where applicable, that is sufficient to provide adequate access to services and supports for individuals with behavioral health needs.

(B) Meet federal and state standards for timely access to care and services, considering the urgency of the need for services.

(C) Ensure the health and welfare of the individual and support community integration of the individual.

(D) Promote the delivery of services in a culturally competent manner to all individuals, including those with limited English proficiency and diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds and disabilities, regardless of age, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

(E) Ensure physical access, reasonable accommodations, and accessible equipment for individuals with physical, intellectual and developmental, and mental disabilities.

(F) Select and retain all contracted network providers, including ensuring all contracted providers meet minimum standards for license, certification, training, experience, and credentialing requirements.

(G) Ensure that the contractor’s hiring practices meet applicable nondiscrimination standards and demonstrate best practices in promoting diversity and equity.

(H) Adequately fund contracts to ensure that noncounty contracted providers are resourced to achieve the behavioral health goals outlined in their contract for the purposes of meeting statewide metrics.

(I) Conduct oversight of compliance of all federal and state laws and regulations of all contracted network providers.

(J) Fill county vacancies and retain county employees providing direct behavioral health services, if applicable.

(9) A description of the system developed to transition a beneficiary’s care between the beneficiary’s mental health plan and their managed care plan based upon the beneficiary’s health condition.

(10) Certification by the county behavioral health director, that ensures that the county has complied with all pertinent regulations, laws, and statutes, including stakeholder participation requirements.

(11) Certification by the county behavioral health director and by the county chief administration officer or their designee that the county has complied with fiscal accountability requirements, as directed by the department, and that all expenditures are consistent with applicable state and federal law.

(d) The county shall submit its integrated plan and annual updates to the department and the commission in a form and manner prescribed by the department.

(e) The department shall post on its internet website, in a timely manner, the integrated plan submitted by every county pursuant to this section.

(f) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2026, if amendments to the Mental Health Services Act are approved by the voters at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election.