Cal. WIC § 5604 — California Code / Code wic / Division 5 / Part 2 / Chapter 1 / Section 5604
Section 5604
Status: in_force

(a) (1) (A) Each community mental health service shall have a behavioral health board consisting of 10 to 15 members, depending on the preference of the county, appointed by the governing body, except that a board in a county with a population of fewer than 80,000 may have a minimum of 5 members.

(B) A county with more than five supervisors shall have at least the same number of members as the size of its board of supervisors.

(C) This section does not limit the ability of the governing body to increase the number of members above 15.

(2) (A) (i) The board shall serve in an advisory role to the governing body, and one member of the board shall be a member of the local governing body.

(ii) Local behavioral health boards may recommend appointees to the county supervisors.

(iii) The board membership shall reflect the diversity of the client population in the county to the extent possible.

(B) (i) Fifty percent of the board membership shall be consumers, or the parents, spouses, siblings, or adult children of consumers, who are receiving or have received behavioral health services. At least one of these members shall be an individual who is 25 years of age or younger.

(ii) At least 20 percent of the total membership shall be consumers, and at least 20 percent shall be families of consumers.

(C) (i) In a county with a population of 100,000 or more, at least one member of the board shall be a veteran or veteran advocate. In a county with a population of fewer than 100,000, the county shall give a strong preference to appointing at least one member of the board who is a veteran or a veteran advocate.

(ii) To comply with clause (i), a county shall notify its county veterans service officer about vacancies on the board, if the county has a veterans service officer.

(D) (i) At least one member of the board shall be an employee of a local education agency.

(ii) To comply with clause (i), a county shall notify its county office of education about vacancies on the board.

(E) (i) In addition to the requirements in subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D), counties are encouraged to appoint individuals who have experience with, and knowledge of, the behavioral health system.

(ii) This would include members of the community who engage with individuals living with mental illness or substance use disorder in the course of daily operations, such as representatives of county offices of education, large and small businesses, hospitals, hospital districts, physicians practicing in emergency departments, city police chiefs, county sheriffs, and community and nonprofit service providers.

(3) (A)  In counties with a population that is fewer than 80,000, at least one member shall be a consumer and at least one member shall be a parent, spouse, sibling, or adult child of a consumer who is receiving, or has received, mental health or substance use disorder treatment services.

(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a board in a county with a population that is fewer than 80,000 that elects to have the board exceed the five-member minimum permitted under paragraph (1) shall be required to comply with paragraph (2).

(b) (1) The behavioral health board shall review and evaluate the local public mental health system, pursuant to Section 5604.2, and review and evaluate the local public substance use disorder treatment system.

(2) The behavioral health board shall advise the governing body on community mental health and substance use disorder services delivered by the local mental health agency or local behavioral health agency, as applicable.

(c) (1) The term of each member of the board shall be for three years.

(2) The governing body shall equitably stagger the appointments so that approximately one-third of the appointments expire in each year.

(d) If two or more local agencies jointly establish a community mental health service pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, the behavioral health board for the community mental health service shall consist of an additional two members for each additional agency, one of whom shall be a consumer or a parent, spouse, sibling, or adult child of a consumer who has received mental health or substance use disorder treatment services.

(e) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a member of the board or the member’s spouse shall not be a full-time or part-time county employee of a county mental health and substance use disorder service, an employee of the State Department of Health Care Services, or an employee of, or a paid member of the governing body of, a mental health or substance use disorder contract agency.

(2) (A) A consumer of behavioral health services who has obtained employment with an employer described in paragraph (1) and who holds a position in which the consumer does not have an interest, influence, or authority over a financial or contractual matter concerning the employer may be appointed to the board.

(B) The member shall abstain from voting on a financial or contractual issue concerning the member’s employer that may come before the board.

(f) Members of the board shall abstain from voting on an issue in which the member has a financial interest as defined in Section 87103 of the Government Code.

(g) If it is not possible to secure membership as specified in this section from among persons who reside in the county, the governing body may substitute representatives of the public interest in behavioral health who are not full-time or part-time employees of the county behavioral health service, the State Department of Health Care Services, or on the staff of, or a paid member of the governing body of, a behavioral health contract agency.

(h) The behavioral health board may be established as an advisory board or a commission, depending on the preference of the county.

(i) For purposes of this section, “veteran advocate” means either a parent, spouse, or adult child of a veteran, or an individual who is part of a veterans organization, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars or the American Legion.

(j) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2025, if amendments to the Mental Health Services Act are approved by the voters at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election.