CA SB 1043

Title: Short-term residential therapeutic programs: dashboard: seclusion or behavioral restraints.
Author: Aisha Wahab

Summary
SB 1043, as amended, Grove. Short-term residential therapeutic programs: dashboard: seclusion or behavioral restraints. Existing law, the California Community Care Facilities Act, provides for the licensing and regulation of community care facilities, including short-term residential therapeutic programs, by the State Department of Social Services. The act defines a short-term residential therapeutic program as a residential facility licensed by the department and operated by any public agency or private organization that provides an integrated program of specialized and intensive care and supervision, services and supports, treatment, and short-term, 24-hour care and supervision to children that is trauma-informed.Existing law requires specified facilities, including community care facilities, to conduct a clinical and quality review for each episode of the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints, as defined. Existing law requires the facility to conduct a debriefing regarding the incident with the person, and other specified individuals upon the person’s request, to discuss how to avoid a similar incident in the future. Under existing law, the person’s participation in the debriefing is voluntary.This bill, in the case of an incident involving the use of seclusion or behavioral restraints in a short-term residential therapeutic program, would require the facility to provide a description of the incident, in both oral and written forms, to the person subject to the seclusion or behavioral restraint and, as applicable, to the person’s foster parent, guardian, or other authorized representative. The bill would require that the description contain certain information, including the actions taken during the incident and its duration, the rationale for the actions, and the personnel approving and implementing the actions. The bill would require the facility to provide a copy of the written description to the department.Existing law requires the Secretary of California Health and Human Services or their designee to take steps to establish a system of mandatory, consistent, timely, and publicly accessible data collection regarding the use of seclusion and behavioral restraints in specified facilities, including community care facilities, that utilize seclusion and behavioral restraints. Existing law requires that data collected include, among other information, the number of incidents, the duration of time spent per incident, and the number of serious injuries or deaths occurring while the person is in seclusion or subject to behavioral restraints.Existing law requires the secretary to develop a mechanism for making this information, as it becomes available, publicly available on the internet. Existing law requires the State Department of Social Services and other specified departments to annually provide information to the Legislature about the progress made in implementing the above-described provisions on data collection, clinical and quality review, and debriefing.This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, by January 1, 2026, to create and post, on its internet website, a public dashboard that is specific to short-term residential therapeutic programs. The bill would require the dashboard to display the above-described data on seclusion or behavioral restraints as applicable to those programs and to display the above-described written descriptions of the incidents. The bill would require the department to update the information on a quarterly basis.Under the bill, copies of the written descriptions and the dashboard would exclude any personally identifiable information, as specified, and the provisions of the bill would be implemented to the extent not in conflict with any applicable federal or state privacy laws.

Status
April 29 hearing: Placed on APPR suspense file.

Bill Documents
CA SB 1043 - 03/18/24 - Amended Senate
03/18/24 - CA SB 1043 (03/18/24 - Amended Senate)