Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520/USCOURTS-caed-2_90-cv-00520-842/pdf.json

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

---

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

1

Stipulation and Order Re Addendum to Program Guide Transfer Timeframes (2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC)) 

XAVIER BECERRA

Attorney General of California 

WILLIAM C. KWONG

Acting Senior Assistant Attorney General 

DANIELLE F. O’BANNON

JAY C. RUSSELL

Supervising Deputy Attorneys General 

ELISE OWENS THORN, State Bar No. 145931 

CHRISTINE M. CICCOTTI, State Bar No. 238695 

CHAD A. STEGEMAN, State Bar No. 225745 

Deputy Attorneys General 

1300 I Street, Suite 125 

P.O. Box 944255 

Sacramento, CA 94244-2550 

Telephone: (916) 324-4921 

Fax: (916) 324-5205 

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

Attorneys for Defendants 

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

SACRAMENTO DIVISION 

RALPH COLEMAN, et al., 

Plaintiffs,

v. 

EDMUND G. BROWN JR., et al., 

Defendants.

2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC) 

STIPULATION REGARDING 

ADDENDUM TO PROGRAM GUIDE 

REGARDING TRANSFER 

TIMEFRAMES; ORDER THEREON 

The parties, with the concurrence of the Special Master, stipulate as follows: 

On April 19, 2017, the Court entered an order directing the parties to “meet and confer 

under the supervision of the Special Master to develop an addendum to the Program Guide that 

identifies circumstances under which time after an inmate-patient is referred to inpatient mental 

health care should be excluded from Program Guide timelines for transfer to such care and 

timelines for completion of the referral process when such circumstances are present.” (ECF No. 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 5631 Filed 06/08/17 Page 1 of 4
1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

2

Stipulation and Order Re Addendum to Program Guide Transfer Timeframes (2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC)) 

5610.) The Court further directed the parties to complete and submit the addendum to the Court 

for review and final approval within forty-five days. (Id.) 

The parties have met and conferred and, under the supervision of the Special Master, 

stipulate as follows: 

1. The Mental Health Services Delivery System 2009 Program Guide sets forth transfer 

timeframes for admission to inpatient facilities. The Program Guide requires that inmates be 

admitted to an acute-care program within ten days of referral and an intermediate-care program 

within thirty days of referral. (Program Guide at 12-1-16.) On occasion, transfer timeframes 

cannot be met due to circumstances outside Defendants’ control. 

2. The parties agree, based on recommendations from the Special Master, that the 

following three categories warrant exceptions to the Program Guide transfer timeframes for 

inpatient mental health care: (1) an inmate-patient is physically unavailable for transfer to a 

psychiatric inpatient program (acute and intermediate care facility) due to being ordered to appear 

in state or federal courts, necessitating transfer either out of the institution or to an institution 

nearest the court; (2) an inmate has a medical issue that cannot be treated at a psychiatric inpatient 

program and that is more urgent than his or her need for inpatient mental health treatment, which 

then causes a delay in the transfer to an inpatient bed; and (3) circumstances outside of 

Defendants’ control, and other than the preceding-enumerated exceptions, which cause a delay in 

transfer to a psychiatric inpatient program beyond the Program Guide timelines. 

3. Tracking and Reporting of Exceptions to Inpatient Transfer Timeframes. Defendants 

track inmate-transfers to inpatient beds on a daily basis and collaborate between mental health, 

custody, Health Care Placement Oversight Program, and DSH in order to ensure expeditious 

patient movement. Defendants shall develop tracking for all patients who exceed timeframes and 

will, by the fifteenth of each month, report admissions and exception activity for the previous 

calendar month. The monthly report shall include inmate-specific details to support reported 

exceptions to the Program Guide transfer timeframes. Defendants will provide a template for this 

reporting to the Special Master and Plaintiffs for comment prior to finalizing it. 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 5631 Filed 06/08/17 Page 2 of 4
1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

3

Stipulation and Order Re Addendum to Program Guide Transfer Timeframes (2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC)) 

4. For the following five months, from June through October, the parties shall meet and 

confer in a monthly telephone conference, under the supervision of the Special Master, to review 

the exceptions to the inpatient transfer timeframes reported for the prior month. In advance of 

each monthly call, Defendants shall provide the Special Master and Plaintiffs, in writing, 

individualized detail explaining the circumstances of the claimed exceptions to the extent that 

such detail is not provided in Defendants’ monthly filing. The purpose of the monthly call is to 

(a) review Defendants’ application of the individual inmate exceptions and refine the precise 

contours of the above-enumerated three exceptions; and (b) develop timelines for the completion 

of the referral process following resolution of the reason for the delay in transfers to inpatient 

care. No fines shall accrue for inmates who qualify for one of the above-enumerated exceptions. 

At the end of the five-month period, the parties shall jointly propose language for an addendum to 

the Program Guide consistent with the Court’s April 19, 2017 Order at 13-14, including timelines 

for completion of the referral process when the relevant exceptions are present. 

IT IS SO STIPULATED. 

Dated: June 5, 2017 

/s/ Elise Owens Thorn 

ELISE OWENS THORN

Deputy Attorney General 

Attorneys for Defendants 

/s/ Lisa Ells 

LISA ELLS

Attorney for Plaintiffs 

ORDER 

Upon receipt of the parties’ stipulation, the court has conferred with the Special Master. 

With the understanding that the Special Master will closely supervise the proposed monthly 

review process to ensure that all reported exceptions are reasonable, and also to ensure that 

refinement of the precise contours of the above-enumerated third exception in particular avoids 

creating exceptions that swallow the fundamental rules established in this long-running case, the 

foregoing stipulation is approved. 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 5631 Filed 06/08/17 Page 3 of 4
1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

4

Stipulation and Order Re Addendum to Program Guide Transfer Timeframes (2:90-cv-00520 KJM-DB (PC)) 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATED: June 8, 2017. 

Case 2:90-cv-00520-KJM-SCR Document 5631 Filed 06/08/17 Page 4 of 4