(a) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to create a funding stream and program that assists certain recipients of aid under this chapter to receive necessary mental health services, including case management and treatment, thereby enabling them to make the transition from welfare to work. This funding stream shall be used specifically to serve recipients in need of mental health services, and shall be accounted for and expended by each county in a manner that ensures that recipients in need of mental health services are receiving appropriate services.
(b) The county plan required by Section 10531 shall include a plan for the development of mental health employment assistance services, developed jointly by the county human services agency and the county department of mental health. The plan shall have as its goal the treatment of mental or emotional disabilities that may limit or impair the ability of a recipient to make the transition from welfare to work, or that may limit or impair the ability to retain employment over a long-term period. The plan shall be developed in a manner consistent with both the county’s welfare-to-work program and the county’s consolidated mental health Medi-Cal services plan. The county may use community-based providers, as necessary, that have experience in addressing the needs of the CalWORKs population. The county, whenever possible, shall ensure that the services provided qualify for federal reimbursement of the nonstate share of Medi-Cal costs.
(c) Subject to specific expenditure authority, mental health services available under this section shall include all of the following elements:
(1) Assessment for the purpose of identifying the level of the participant’s mental health needs and the appropriate level of treatment and rehabilitation for the participant.
(2) Case management, as appropriate, as determined by the county.
(3) Treatment and rehabilitation services, that shall include counseling, as necessary to overcome mental health barriers to employment and mental health barriers to retaining employment, in coordination with an individual’s welfare-to-work plan.
(4) In cases in which a secondary diagnosis of substance abuse is made in a person referred for mental or emotional disorders, the welfare-to-work plan shall also address the substance abuse treatment needs of the participant.
(5) A process by which the county can identify those with severe mental disabilities that may qualify them for aid under Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 12000).
(d) Any funds appropriated by the Legislature to cover the nonfederal costs of the mental health employment assistance services required by this section shall be allocated consistent with the formula used to distribute each county’s CalWORKs program allocation. Each county shall report annually to the state the number of CalWORKs program recipients who received mental health services and the extent to which the allocation is sufficient to meet the need for these services as determined by the county. The State Department of Health Care Services shall develop a uniform methodology for ensuring that this allocation supplements, and does not supplant, current expenditure levels for mental health services for this population.
(e) This section shall become operative on July 1, 2018, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted on or before July 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.
(Repealed (in Sec. 25) and added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 24, Sec. 26. (SB 89) Effective June 27, 2017. Section operative July 1, 2018, by its own provisions.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018