(a) The State Department of Health Care Services shall, in consultation with the Department of Managed Health Care, the State Department of Social Services, the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, the County Welfare Directors Association of California, the Chief Probation Officers of California, provider representatives, and other relevant stakeholders, establish program standards and procedures for oversight, enforcement, and issuance of children’s crisis residential mental health program approvals, including provisional approvals that are effective for a period of less than one year. The State Department of Health Care Services shall also establish due process protections related to the children’s crisis residential mental health program approval process.

(b) The State Department of Health Care Services shall, in collaboration with the department, the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California, provider representatives, and other relevant stakeholders, provide guidance to counties for the provision of children’s crisis residential services, including funding for children who are Medi-Cal beneficiaries and who are admitted to a children’s crisis residential program. This subdivision shall only be implemented to the extent that any necessary federal approvals are obtained and federal financial participation is available and is not otherwise jeopardized.

(c) (1) The children’s crisis residential program shall be used only as a diversion to admittance to a psychiatric hospital.

(2) (A) The length of the initial authorization for admission to a children’s crisis residential program shall be limited to 10 consecutive days.

(B) If a determination is made by a health care professional that a children’s crisis residential program is medically necessary and is the appropriate continued level of care, either of the following shall occur:

(i) In the case of a Medi-Cal beneficiary, the children’s crisis residential program shall notify the county mental health plan authorizing those services before extending the length of stay beyond 10 consecutive days.

(ii) In the case of non-Medi-Cal beneficiaries, reauthorizations for admission shall be obtained using the process established by the entity providing coverage.

(C) With the exception of clause (ii) of subparagraph (B), this paragraph shall be implemented only to the extent that any necessary federal approvals are obtained and the State Department of Health Care Services determines, in its sole discretion, that federal financial participation is not jeopardized.

(3) A children’s crisis residential program may accept for admission any child who meets all of the following requirements:

(A) The child is referred by a parent or guardian, physician, or licensed mental health professional, or by the representative of a public or private entity, including, but not limited to, the county probation agency or child welfare services agency with responsibility for the placement of a child in foster care, that has the right to make these decisions on behalf of a child who is in mental health crisis.

(B) The child is under 19, 20, or 21 years of age, depending on a program’s licensing requirements.

(C) The child has a serious behavioral health disorder.

(D) The child requires a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, staff-secured, unlocked treatment setting.

(d) A children’s crisis residential mental health program approval issued by the State Department of Health Care Services, or a county mental health plan to which the department has delegated approval authority, shall be a condition of continued licensure for a short-term residential therapeutic program operating as a children’s crisis residential program.

(e) The State Department of Health Care Services, or a county mental health plan to which the department has delegated approval authority, may enforce the children’s crisis residential mental health program approval standards by taking any of the following actions against a noncompliant children’s crisis residential program:

(1) Suspend or revoke a children’s crisis residential mental health program approval.

(2) Impose monetary penalties.

(3) Place a children’s crisis residential mental health program on probation.

(4) Require a children’s crisis residential mental health program to prepare and comply with a corrective action plan.

(f) The State Department of Health Care Services, or a county mental health plan to which the department has delegated approval authority, shall provide a children’s crisis residential mental health program with due process protections when taking any of the actions described in subdivision (e).

(g) Contingent upon an appropriation in the annual Budget Act for these purposes, the department shall begin implementation of this section no later than July 1, 2018, and shall commence the operation of the approval process for children’s crisis residential mental health program approvals no later than January 1, 2019.

(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 910, Sec. 36. (AB 1930) Effective January 1, 2019.)