AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 26, 2025

AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 12, 2025

AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

95

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk-Silva

February 21, 2025

An act to add Part 9 (commencing with Section 5990) to Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to behavioral health.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: no   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law authorizes a county to establish a homeless adult and family multidisciplinary personnel team, as defined, with the goal of facilitating the expedited identification, assessment, and linkage of homeless individuals to housing and supportive services within that county and to allow provider agencies to share confidential information for the purpose of coordinating housing and supportive services to ensure continuity of care.

This bill would authorize a county to also establish a behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team, as defined, with the goal of facilitating the expedited identification, assessment, and linkage of a justice-involved person, as defined, diagnosed with a mental illness to supportive services within that county while incarcerated and upon release from county jail and to allow provider agencies and members of the personnel team to share confidential information, as specified, for the purpose of coordinating supportive services to ensure continuity of care. The bill would require the sharing of information permitted under these provisions to be governed by protocols developed in each county, as specified.

This bill would authorize a behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team to designate a qualified person to be a member of the team for a particular case and would require a member who receives information or records regarding a justice-involved person in their capacity as a member of the team to be under the same privacy and confidentiality obligations and subject to the same confidentiality penalties as the person disclosing or providing the information or records. The bill would also require the information or records to be maintained in a manner that ensures the maximum protection of privacy and confidentiality rights.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Part 9 (commencing with Section 5990) is added to Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read:

Part 9. Behavioral Health Multidisciplinary Personnel Team

5990.

(a) A county may establish a behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team with the goal of facilitating the expedited identification, assessment, and linkage of a justice-involved person diagnosed with a mental illness to supportive services within that county while incarcerated and upon release from county jail and to allow provider agencies and members of the personnel team to share confidential information for the purpose of coordinating supportive services to ensure continuity of care.

(b) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1) “Behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team” means a team of two or more persons who are trained in the identification and treatment of an individual with mental illness and who are qualified to provide a broad range of services related to behavioral health. The team may include any of the following:

(A) Behavioral health and substance abuse services personnel and practitioners or other trained counseling personnel.

(B) Medical personnel with sufficient training to provide health services.

(C) Social services workers with experience or training in the provision of services to adults with mental illness and eligibility for services.

(D) Case managers or case coordinators responsible for referral, linkage, or coordination of care and services provided to adults or families.

(2) “Justice-involved person” means an individual who is currently incarcerated within a county jail or who has been incarcerated in a county jail.

(3) “Provider agency” means a governmental or other agency that has, as one of its purposes, the identification, assessment, and linkage of housing or supportive services to an individual with mental illness. The provider agencies serving adults that may share information under this section include all of the following entities or service agencies:

(A) Social services.

(B) Health services.

(C) Behavioral health services.

(D) Substance abuse services.

(E) Probation.

(F) Law enforcement.

(G) Legal counsel for the adult or family representing them in a criminal matter.

(H) Veterans services and counseling.

(I) Homeless services.

(J) Tribal programs.

(c) (1) Members of a behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team engaged in the identification, assessment, and linkage of supportive services to a justice-involved person may disclose to, and exchange with, one another information and writings that relate to information that may be designated as confidential under state law if a member of the team reasonably believes it is required for the identification of mental illness and the provision of services. A discussion relative to the disclosure or exchange of the information or writings during a team meeting is confidential and, notwithstanding any other law, testimony concerning that discussion is not admissible in a criminal, civil, or juvenile court proceeding.

(2) Disclosure and exchange of information pursuant to this section may occur electronically if there is adequate verification of the identity of the behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel who are involved in that disclosure or exchange of information.

(3) Disclosure and exchange of information pursuant to this section shall not be made to anyone other than a member of the behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team or a person qualified to receive information as set forth in subdivision (d).

(4) To comply with the requirements of this section, all behavioral health multidisciplinary team members and their departments shall maintain a secure and standardized process for sharing a person’s confidential records. This process shall ensure both of the following:

(A) All records and information is kept confidential in a manner that complies with all privacy laws.

(B) All records are guarded against unauthorized access.

(d) A behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team may designate a person qualified pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) to be a member of the team for a particular case. A person designated as a team member pursuant to this subdivision may receive and disclose relevant information and records, subject to the confidentiality provisions of subdivision (g).

(e) (1) The sharing of information permitted pursuant to subdivision (c) shall be governed by protocols developed in each county describing how and what information may be shared by a behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team to ensure that confidential information gathered by the team is not disclosed in violation of state or federal law. A copy of the protocols shall be distributed to each participating agency and to persons in those agencies who participate in the multidisciplinary personnel team and shall be posted on the county’s internet website within 30 days of adoption.

(2) A protocol developed in a county pursuant to paragraph (1) shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(A) The items of information or data elements that will be shared.

(B) The participating agencies.

(C) A description of how the information shared pursuant to this section will be used by the behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team only for the intended purposes specified in subdivision (a).

(D) The information retention schedule that a participating agency shall follow.

(E) A requirement that no confidential information or writings be disclosed to a person who is not a member of the multidisciplinary personnel team, except to the extent required or permitted under applicable law.

(F) A requirement that a participating agency develop uniform written policies and procedures that include security and privacy awareness training for employees who will have access to information pursuant to this protocol.

(G) A requirement that all persons who have access to information shared by a participating agency sign a confidentiality statement that includes, at a minimum, general use, security safeguards, acceptable use, and enforcement policies.

(H) A requirement that a participating agency employ security controls that meet applicable federal and state standards, including reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure data confidentiality, integrity, and availability and to prevent unauthorized or inappropriate access, use, or disclosure.

(I) A requirement that a participating agency take reasonable steps to ensure information is complete, accurate, and up to date to the extent necessary for the agency’s intended purposes and that the information has not been altered or destroyed in an unauthorized manner.

(f) All transmissions made pursuant to this section shall comply with the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (Part 2.6 (commencing with Section 56) of Division 1 of the Civil Code), Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 123100) of Part 1 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code, the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code), the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (Public Law 104-191), the federal Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act (Public Law 111-5), and the corresponding implementing regulations relating to privacy and security in Parts 160 and 164 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

(g) A member of a behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team who receives information or records regarding a justice-involved person in that member’s capacity as a member of the team shall be under the same privacy and confidentiality obligations and subject to the same confidentiality penalties as the person disclosing or providing the information or records. The information or records obtained shall be maintained in a manner that ensures the maximum protection of privacy and confidentiality rights.

(h) This section does not supersede or preempt the applicability of any existing state or federal privacy laws, including, but not limited to, the following:

(1) The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (Public Law 104-191).

(2) The Information Practices Act of 1977 (Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 1798) of Title 1.8 of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code).

(3) The Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (Part 2.6 (commencing with Section 56) of Division 1 of the Civil Code).

(4) Section 5328.

(i) Information and records communicated or provided to a team member by a provider or agency shall be deemed private and confidential and shall be protected from discovery and disclosure by all applicable statutory and common law protections. Existing civil and criminal penalties shall apply to the inappropriate disclosure of information held by a team member.