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(a) The Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission is hereby established to promote transformational change in California’s behavioral health system through research, evaluation and tracking outcomes, and other strategies to assess and report progress. The commission shall use this information and analyses to inform the commission’s grant making, identify key policy issues and emerging best practices, provide technical assistance and training, promote high-quality programs implemented, and advise the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to the Behavioral Health Services Act and related components of California’s behavioral health system. For this purpose, the commission shall collaborate with the California Health and Human Services Agency, its departments and other state entities.
(b) (1) The commission shall replace the advisory committee established pursuant to Section 5814.
(2) The commission shall consist of 27 voting members as follows:
(A) The Attorney General or the Attorney General’s designee.
(B) The Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Superintendent’s designee.
(C) The Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health, the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Human Services, or another member of the Senate selected by the President pro Tempore of the Senate, or their designee.
(D) The Chairperson of the Assembly Committee on Health, the Chairperson of the Assembly Committee on Human Services, or another Member of the Assembly selected by the Speaker of the Assembly, or their designee.
(E) (i) The following individuals, all appointed by the Governor:
(I) Two persons who have or have had a mental health disorder.
(II) Two persons who have or have had a substance use disorder.
(III) A family member of an adult or older adult who has or has had a mental health disorder.
(IV) One person who is 25 years of age or younger and has or has had a mental health disorder, substance use disorder, or cooccurring disorder.
(V) A family member of an adult or older adult who has or has had a substance use disorder.
(VI) A family member of a child or youth who has or has had a mental health disorder.
(VII) A family member of a child or youth who has or has had a substance use disorder.
(VIII) A current or former county behavioral health director.
(IX) A physician specializing in substance use disorder treatment, including the provision of medications for addiction treatment.
(X) A mental health professional.
(XI) A professional with expertise in housing and homelessness.
(XII) A county sheriff.
(XIII) A superintendent of a school district.
(XIV) A representative of a labor organization.
(XV) A representative of an employer with less than 500 employees.
(XVI) A representative of an employer with more than 500 employees.
(XVII) A representative of a health care service plan or insurer.
(XVIII) A representative of an aging or disability organization.
(XIX) A person with knowledge and experience in community-defined evidence practices and reducing behavioral health disparities.
(XX) A representative of a children and youth organization.
(XXI) A veteran or a representative of a veterans organization.
(ii) In making appointments, the Governor shall seek individuals who have had personal or family experience with mental illness or substance use disorder.
(c) Members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for all actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
(d) The term of each member shall be three years, to be staggered so that approximately one-third of the appointments expire in each year.
(e) (1) The commission shall have an Executive Director.
(2) The Executive Director will be responsible for management over the administrative, fiscal, and program performance of the commission.
(3) The Executive Director shall be selected by the commission.
(4) The commission may delegate to the Executive Director any power, duty, purpose, function, or jurisdiction that the commission may lawfully delegate, including the authority to enter into and sign contracts on behalf of the commission. The Executive Director may redelegate any of those powers, duties, purposes, functions, or jurisdictions to the Executive Director’s designee, unless by statute, or rule or regulation, the Executive Director is expressly required to act personally.
(f) In carrying out its duties and responsibilities, the commission may do all of the following:
(1) (A) Meet at least once each quarter at a time and location convenient to the public as it may deem appropriate.
(B) All meetings of the commission shall be open to the public.
(2) Within the limit of funds allocated for these purposes, pursuant to the laws and regulations governing state civil service, employ staff, including clerical, legal, and technical assistance, as necessary.
(3) The commission shall administer its operations separate and apart from the State Department of Health Care Services and the California Health and Human Services Agency.
(4) Establish technical advisory committees, such as a committee of consumers and family members, and a reducing disparities committee focusing on demographic, geographic, and other communities. The commission may provide pertinent information gained from those committees to relevant state agencies and departments, including, but not limited to, the California Health and Humans Services Agency and its departments.
(5) Employ all other appropriate strategies necessary or convenient to enable it to fully and adequately perform its duties and exercise the powers expressly granted, notwithstanding authority expressly granted to an officer or employee of state government.
(6) Enter into contracts.
(7) Make reasonable requests for data and information to the State Department of Health Care Services, the Department of Health Care Access and Information, the State Department of Public Health, or other state and local entities that receive Behavioral Health Services Act funds. These entities shall respond in a timely manner and provide information and data in their possession that the commission deems necessary for the purposes of carrying out its responsibilities.
(8) Participate in the joint state-county decisionmaking process, as described in Section 4061, for training, technical assistance, and regulatory resources to meet the mission and goals of the state’s mental health system.
(9) Identify best practices to overcome stigma and discrimination, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health.
(10) At any time, advise the Governor or the Legislature regarding actions the state may take to improve care and services for people with mental illness or substance use disorder.
(11) If the commission identifies a critical issue related to the performance of a county mental health program, it may refer the issue to the State Department of Health Care Services pursuant to Section 5655 or 5963.04.
(12) Provide technical assistance to counties on implementation planning, training, and capacity building investments as defined by the State Department of Health Care Services and in consultation with the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California. Technical assistance may also include innovative behavioral health models of care and innovative promising practices pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 5892. Technical assistance may also include compiling and publishing a list of innovative behavioral health models of care programs and promising practices for each of the programs set forth in subparagraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 5892.
(13) Work in collaboration with the State Department of Health Care Services to define the parameters of a report that includes recommendations for improving and standardizing promising practices across the state based on the technical assistance provided to counties as specified in paragraph (12). The commission shall prepare and publish the report on its internet website. In formulating this report, the commission shall prioritize the perspectives of the California behavioral health community through a robust public engagement process with a focus on priority populations and diverse communities.
(14) Establish a framework and voluntary standard for mental health in the workplace that serves to reduce mental health stigma, increase public, employee, and employer awareness of the recovery goals of the Mental Health Services Act, and provide guidance to California’s employer community to put in place strategies and programs, as determined by the commission, to support the mental health and wellness of employees. The commission shall consult with the Labor and Workforce Development Agency or its designee to develop the standard.
(g) (1) The commission shall work in collaboration with the State Department of Health Care Services and the California Behavioral Health Planning Council, and in consultation with the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, to write a report that includes recommendations for improving and standardizing promising practices for Behavioral Health Services Act programs.
(2) The commission shall complete the report and provide a written report on its internet website no later than January 1, 2030, and every three years thereafter.
(h) For purposes of this section, “substance use disorder” shall have the meaning as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 5891.5.
(i) 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.