Cal. WIC § 5963.04 — California Code / Code wic / Division 5 / Part 7 / Chapter 3 / Article 2 / Section 5963.04
Section 5963.04
Status: in_force

(a) (1) Annually, counties and Medi-Cal behavioral health delivery systems, as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 14184.101, shall submit the County Behavioral Health Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency Report to the department.

(2) This report shall include the following data and information that shall be submitted in a form, manner, and in accordance with timelines prescribed by the department:

(A) The county’s annual allocation of state and federal behavioral health funds, by category.

(B) The county’s annual expenditure of state and federal behavioral health funds, by category.

(C) The amounts of annual and cumulative unspent state and federal behavioral health funds, including funds in a reserve account, by category.

(D) The county’s annual expenditure of county general funds and other funds, by category, on mental health or substance use disorder treatment services.

(E) The sources and amounts spent annually as the nonfederal share for Medi-Cal specialty mental health services and Medi-Cal substance use disorder treatment services, by category.

(F) All administrative costs, by category.

(G) All contracted services, and the cost of those contracted services, by category.

(H) Information on behavioral health services provided to persons not covered by Medi-Cal, including, but not limited to, those who are uninsured or covered by Medicare or commercial insurance, by category.

(I) Other data and information, which shall include, but is not limited to, information on spending on children and youth, service utilization data, performance outcome measures across all behavioral health delivery systems, and data and information pertaining to populations with identified disparities in behavioral health outcomes, as specified by the department. This shall include data through the lens of health equity to identify racial, ethnic, age, gender, and other demographic disparities and inform disparity reduction efforts. Other data and information may include the number of people who are eligible adults and older adults, as defined in Section 5892, who are incarcerated, experiencing homelessness, inclusive of the availability of housing, the number of eligible children and youth, as defined in Section 5892, who access evidence based early psychosis and mood disorder detection and intervention programs.

(J) Data and information on workforce measures and metrics, including, but not limited to, all of the following:

(i) Vacancies and efforts to fill vacancies.

(ii) The number of county employees providing direct clinical behavioral health services.

(iii) Whether there is a net change in the number of county employees providing direct clinical behavioral health services compared to the prior year and an explanation for that change.

(b) The department shall establish metrics, in consultation with counties, stakeholders, and the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to measure and evaluate the quality and efficacy of the behavioral health services and programs listed in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 5963.02. The metrics shall be used to identify demographic and geographic disparities in the quality and efficacy of behavioral health services and programs listed in paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 5963.02.

(c) Each county’s board of supervisors shall attest that the County Behavioral Health Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency Report is complete and accurate before it is submitted to the department.

(d) Each year, the department shall post on its internet website a statewide County Behavioral Health Outcomes, Accountability, and Transparency Report.

(e) (1) The department may require a county or Medi-Cal behavioral health delivery system, as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 14184.101, to revise its integrated plan or annual update pursuant to Section 5963.02 if the department determines the plan or update fails to adequately address local needs pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 5963.02.

(2) The department may impose a corrective action plan or require a county or Medi-Cal behavioral health delivery system, as defined in subdivision (i) of Section 14184.101, to revise its integrated plan or annual update pursuant to Section 5963.02 if the department determines that the county or delivery system fails to make adequate progress in meeting the metrics established by the department pursuant to subdivision (b).

(3) (A) (i) If a county or Medi-Cal behavioral health delivery system fails to submit the data and information specified in subdivision (a) by the required deadline, or as otherwise required by the department, fails to allocate funding pursuant to Section 5892, fails to comply with the expenditure requirements of subdivisions (b) and (c) of Section 5892.2 or fails to follow the process pursuant to Section 5963.03, the department may impose a corrective action plan, monetary sanctions, or temporarily withhold payments to the county or Medi-Cal behavioral health delivery system, pursuant to Section 14197.7.

(ii) Subject to the guidance issued pursuant to Section 5963.05, if a county’s actual expenditures of its allocations from the Behavioral Health Services Fund significantly varies from its budget in Section 5963.02, the department may impose a corrective action plan, monetary sanctions, or temporarily withhold payments to the county pursuant to Section 14197.7.

(iii) Notwithstanding subdivision (o) of Section 14197.7, temporarily withheld payments shall be withheld from the Behavioral Health Services Fund.

(B) (i) Notwithstanding subdivision (q) of Section 14197.7, monetary sanctions collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Behavioral Health Services Act Accountability Fund, which is hereby created in the State Treasury.

(ii) Subject to the department’s guidance issued pursuant to Section 5963.05, all monies in the Behavioral Health Services Act Accountability Fund shall be continuously appropriated and allocated and distributed to the county that paid the monetary sanction upon the department’s determination that the county has come into compliance.

(C) The department shall temporarily withhold amounts it deems necessary to ensure the county or Medi-Cal behavioral health delivery system comes into compliance.

(D) The department shall release the temporarily withheld funds when it determines the county or Medi-Cal behavioral health delivery system has come into compliance.

(f) This section shall be read in conjunction with, and apply in addition to, any other applicable law that authorizes the department to impose sanctions or otherwise take remedial actions against a county and Medi-Cal behavioral health delivery system.

(g) 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.