(a)  The California Health and Human Services Agency, in accordance with their mission, shall provide the leadership and coordination necessary to reduce the use of seclusion and behavioral restraints in facilities that are licensed, certified, or monitored by departments that fall within its jurisdiction.

(b)  The agency may make recommendations to the Legislature for additional facilities, or for additional units or departments within facilities, that should be included within the requirements of this division in the future, including, but not limited to, emergency rooms.

(c)  At the request of the secretary, the involved state departments shall provide information regarding existing training protocols and requirements related to the utilization of seclusion and behavioral restraints by direct care staff who work in facilities within their jurisdiction. All involved state departments shall cooperate in implementing any training protocols established pursuant to this division. It is the intent of the Legislature that training protocols developed pursuant to this division be incorporated into existing training requirements and opportunities. It is further the intent of the Legislature that, to the extent feasible, the training protocols developed pursuant to Section 1180.2 be utilized in the development of training protocols developed pursuant to Section 1180.3.

(d)  The secretary, or his or her designee, is encouraged to pursue federal and private funding to support the development of a training protocol that can be incorporated into the existing training activities for direct care staff conducted by the state, facilities, and educational institutions in order to reduce the use of seclusion and behavioral restraints.

(e)  The secretary or his or her designee shall make recommendations to the Legislature on how to best assess the impact of serious staff injuries sustained during the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints, on staffing costs, and on workers’ compensation claims and costs.

(f)  The agency shall not be required to implement this section if implementation cannot be achieved within existing resources, unless additional funding for this purpose becomes available. The agency and involved departments may incrementally implement this section in order to accomplish its goals within existing resources, through the use of federal or private funding, or upon the subsequent appropriation of funds by the Legislature for this purpose, or all of these.

(Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 750, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2004.)