Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520-1216/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 550
Nature of Suit: Prisoner - Civil Rights (U.S. defendant)
Cause of Action: 42:1983 Prisoner Civil Rights

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[4193915.1] 1 

Stip. and Order Extending the Deadline to Complete the Unmet Needs Assessment (2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC)) 

17953079.1 

ROB BONTA, State Bar No. 202668 

Attorney General of California 

MONICA N. ANDERSON, State Bar No. 182970 

Senior Assistant Attorney General 

DAMON MCCLAIN, State Bar No. 209508 

Supervising Deputy Attorney General 

ELISE OWENS THORN, State Bar No. 145931 

NAMRATA KOTWANI, State Bar No. 308741 

Deputy Attorneys General 

1300 I Street, Suite 125 

P.O. Box 944255 

Sacramento, CA 94244-2550 

Telephone: (916) 210-7318 

Fax: (916) 324-5205 

E-mail: Elise.Thorn@doj.ca.gov 

Attorneys for Defendants 

HANSON BRIDGETT LLP 

PAUL B. MELLO, State Bar No. 179755 

SAMANTHA D. WOLFF, State Bar No. 240280 

DAVID C. CASARRUBIAS, State Bar No. 321994 

 1676 N. California Boulevard, Suite 620 

 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 

Telephone: (925) 746-8460 

Fax: (925) 746-8490 

E-mail: PMello@hansonbridgett.com 

Attorneys for Defendants

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SACRAMENTO DIVISION 

RALPH COLEMAN, et al., 

Plaintiffs, 

v. 

GAVIN NEWSOM, et al., 

Defendants. 

Case No. 2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC) 

STIPULATION AND ORDER 

EXTENDING THE DEADLINE TO 

COMPLETE THE UNMET BED NEEDS 

ASSESSMENT 

Judge: The Hon. Kimberly J. Mueller 

On September 13, 2021 Defendants were ordered to “as soon as practicable...undertake an 

assessment of whether there is unmet need for inpatient care...among the plaintiff class.” (ECF 

No. 7305 at 15-16.) On February 25, 2022, Defendants were ordered to file, by December 31, 

2022, a written report on the results of the unmet needs assessment. (ECF No. 7477.) 

Defendants began planning for the unmet needs assessment (UNA) shortly after the Court’s 

September 13, 2021 Order and began data collection and case reviews in April 2022. CDCR 

developed a screening and case review schedule that would allow it to complete the UNA by the 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 7680 Filed 12/15/22 Page 1 of 5
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[4193915.1] 2 

Stip. and Order Extending the Deadline to Complete the Unmet Needs Assessment (2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC)) 

17953079.1 

December 31, 2022 deadline. This schedule was designed using projections based on data 

available to CDCR before the UNA screening began in April 2022. 

Defendants assign four to five teams, each comprised of three clinicians, to participate in 

the UNA case review process. These clinicians work full time on the UNA case reviews and also 

participate in any necessary UNA dispute resolution meetings or patient interviews. 

The screening tool, along with the increase in automated data collected about patients, has 

resulted in more patients being included in the assessment than initially projected. Since April 

2022, Defendants have screened over 14,500 patients for inclusion in the assessment, and flagged 

over 3,800 patients for further assessment across just the first nine institutions. For context, 

during the Mental Health Assessment and Referral Project (MHARP), only 1,800 patients were 

flagged and assessed across all CDCR’s prisons. 

In August 2022, after collecting data on the first seven institutions, Defendants updated 

their projections, which, at the time, indicated that case reviews would be complete in late 

January 2023, and that the UNA report would be complete in late April 2023. However, data 

collection at two additional institutions in October 2022 shows that Defendants’ August 

projections are no longer up-to-date and a report completion date of late June 2023 is more 

realistic. 

Defendants approached Plaintiffs and the Special Master about the need for an extension of 

time on August 24, 2022. The parties met and conferred on August 30, September 9, and October 

17, to discuss the need for additional time. The parties agree that more time is needed to 

complete the UNA study and propose that Defendants provide the Plaintiffs and the Special 

Master with monthly updates to their case review completion date projections. Defendants agree 

to continue staffing the project at the same levels since the beginning of the UNA – working 

through approximately 150 cases per week – with the exception of the last week of December 

preceding the new year. Defendants will be able to project an end date for the case reviews 

following the identification of flagged cases for the last set of institutions.1

 Defendants will 

provide an updated schedule following the identification of flagged cases for the last set of 

1

 A draft schedule is attached. 

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[4193915.1] 3 

Stip. and Order Extending the Deadline to Complete the Unmet Needs Assessment (2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC)) 

17953079.1 

institutions and will file a completed UNA report within ninety days of the projected end date. 

During the ninety day report drafting period, Defendants will allow Plaintiffs and the Special 

Master thirty days to provide comments on a draft of the UNA report. 

The parties also discussed the concern, raised by both Plaintiffs and the Special Master 

team, that completion of the UNA study should not delay planning to address any immediate 

shortage of inpatient beds. Although Defendants do not anticipate any bed shortages as a result of 

the ongoing UNA, Defendants agree that in the event that a shortage of available acute or 

intermediate inpatient beds develops during the pendency of the UNA study due to UNA 

referrals, they shall notify the Special Master and Plaintiffs of the shortfall, and meet and confer 

with the Special Master team and Plaintiffs’ counsel before responding to the shortage of beds as 

appropriate. Defendants also agree to meet with Plaintiffs should they have concerns about bed 

availability during the pendency of the UNA study. 

The parties also discussed how the case review meetings and dispute calls were being 

staffed. Defendants’ revised schedule ensures that staff will continue working at the same pace 

throughout the project. Defendants agree that they will first meet and confer with the Plaintiffs 

and the Special Master before reducing the number of UNA case review teams during the 

pendency of the study. Mindful that staff may need breaks from the project, Defendants may 

rotate in new clinicians who are knowledgeable regarding CDCR operations and the CDCR 

mental health delivery system, and regarding CDCR’s and DSH’s inpatient referral processes. 

Also, DSH may use a pool of senior psychologists who are knowledgeable about CDCR 

operations and the inpatient referral process to attend the UNA dispute resolution calls, instead of 

supervisors as called for under the current UNA methodology, when operationally necessary. 

Defendants remain committed to ensuring that Plaintiffs and the Special Master are kept 

apprised of any changes that may be necessary to the UNA schedule based on additional changes 

to the projections. The parties agree to meet and confer on any unanticipated changes to the UNA 

project that may arise while the UNA is ongoing. 

In light of the above, Defendants will follow the process set forth above in order to 

complete the UNA study and file the report by June 30, 2023. 

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[4193915.1] 4 

Stip. and Order Extending the Deadline to Complete the Unmet Needs Assessment (2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC)) 

17953079.1 

IT IS SO STIPULATED. 

DATED: December 2, 2022 ROB BONTA

Attorney General of California

DAMON MCCLAIN

Supervising Deputy Attorney General

By: /s/ Elise Owens Thorn

 ELISE OWENS THORN

Deputy Attorney General

Attorneys for Defendants

DATED: December 2, 2022 Respectfully submitted,

ROSEN BIEN GALVAN & GRUNFELD LLP

By: /s/ Thomas Nolan

Thomas Nolan

Attorneys for Plaintiffs

# # # 

ORDER 

The court, having considered the parties’ stipulation, hereby approves the matters agreed to 

with two modifications. First, a key purpose of the UNA study is to aid the court in making “a 

reasoned determination as to whether defendants’ 50 bed MHCB [mental health crisis bed] plan is 

adequate.” September 13, 2021 Order, ECF No. 7305, at 15. Accordingly, defendants shall also 

notify the Special Master and plaintiffs in the event a shortage of available MHCBs develops 

during the pendency of the UNA study due to UNA referrals, and meet and confer with the 

Special Master team and plaintiffs’ counsel before responding to the shortage as appropriate. 

Second, plaintiffs shall notify the Special Master contemporaneously with any request to meet 

with defendants should plaintiffs have any concerns about bed availability during the pendency of 

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Stip. and Order Extending the Deadline to Complete the Unmet Needs Assessment (2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC)) 

17953079.1 

the UNA study. With these modifications, the stipulation is approved and the deadline for 

defendants to file a report on the results of the unmet bed need study is extended to June 30, 2023. 

 IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATED: December 13, 2022. 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 7680 Filed 12/15/22 Page 5 of 5