Search Results for: mental health

A bill introduced on Tuesday in the Second Extraordinary Legislative Session on Health wants to levy a 5-cent tax on cocktails served in restaurants and bars in California. The proposal would raise an estimated $200 million a year for community-based services for those with developmental disabilities. Read more.

On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against California alleging that the state failed to transfer defendants with mental health issues or disabilities who were deemed incompetent to stand trial to state hospitals in a timely manner, Reuters reports (Bernstein, Reuters, 7/29).

Background

Defendants in criminal court must be able to comprehend any charges against them and help in their own defense. Read more.

State senators who will serve on a special session to discuss additional funding for services for those with developmental disabilities have been chosen, but it’s uncertain when the committee will convene.

Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León has announced that Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, Mike Morrell, R-Rancho Cucamonga, and Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, and 10 others will be part of the public health and developmental services committee.

California’s new budget included no extra funds for programs for those with developmental disabilities, but Gov. Jerry Brown called for a special session to discuss options on how the state could raise that money. Read more.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Diana Dooley last week announced she is reconvening the task force for developmental centers.
That task force took on a formidable job — over the course of six months, it came up with a $13 million plan to restructure the state’s developmental centers — and in May presented its “Plan for the Future of Developmental Centers in California” to legislators in time for the state’s budget revision. Read more.