Minutes of the San Francisco Bay Area Regional NAMI Meeting

Minutes of the San Francisco Bay Area
Regional NAMI Affiliates Meeting
April 28, 2001

by Steve Bischoff

1. Regional Conference--Fall 2001

We are going ahead with plans for a Bay Area NAMI conference in October 2001, either on Sunday October 7 or October 14. The purpose is to bring together NAMI boards and interested members for a full day of information exchange to facilitate solving problems we are working on locally. Lori Campbell is heading a committee to plan the conference. We are currently exploring various sites for the meeting, hoping to get a location that is central for driving and for public transportation. We will have a more detailed report at our next meeting.

2. Exchange Program with Japan

Joe Shimizu reported on several related projects involving NAMI-Japan. He is trying to survey and collect stories from selected NAMI members in the United States to share with Japanese families involved with NAMI-Japan. He will also be traveling to Japan as part of a small U.S. delegation to meet with Japanese legal and mental health authorities to exchange ideas on mental health laws and treatment methods. He will report to us on both these topics when he returns.

3. Legislative Update

A number of new mental health bills have been introduced this year. Three key bills sponsored by Helen Thompson are:

AB 1421 would set up pilot assisted outpatient treatment programs for adults with mental illness that puts them at high risk for a poor outcome. The bill provides that a person who fails to comply, despite efforts to solicit compliance, can be placed under a 72-hour hold. It responds to findings that some high-risk patients do not respond well to traditional community-based mental health services and do not avail themselves of these services even when treatment is made available. AB 1421 would allocate funds from the Budget Act of 2001 to assist counties willing to set up required programs including assertive community treatment. The San Francisco Chronicle has strongly endorsed AB 1421 and it passed in the Assembly Judiciary Committee by a 7-0 vote on May 8.
AB 1422 Creates a Mental Health Advocacy Commission for five years to conduct educational programs about mental illness, build community support for an effective and cost‑efficient system, and develop strategies to ensure that all Californians can gain access to mental health services through private insurance or public benefits? (This is the commission proposed in the Little Hoover Commission report last fall.) AB 1422 would also make the state, instead of the counties, be responsible for the Medi‑Cal match needed to draw down federal Medicaid funds for mental health services, and would eliminate the statutory provision that urges counties to provide public mental health services "to the extent resources are available," establishing an entitlement to mental health services for certain mentally ill individuals, effective January 2004. AB 1422 passed in the Assembly Health Committee 15-0 on May 8.
Of special interest to NAMI members is AB 1424 which would require hearings about involuntary commitment to take into account a person's psychiatric history through information by family members as well as from medical records. This billed passed the Assembly Judiciary committee in April and was passed on the Appropriations Committee.
John Burton's SB 931 would provide additional treatment funds to counties for those at risk of involuntary commitment. SB 931 would require an appropriation and would need a two-thirds vote as an emergency measure so it could take effect immediately on passage. A hearing is scheduled on May 14 with the Senate Appropriations Committee.

NAMI-California urges all NAMI members to write their legislators in support of AB 1421, 1422 and 1424 and to send copies of any letters to Helen Thompson's office.

Because of the energy crisis, it will be difficult this year to enact any bills requiring substantial appropriations.

4. California NAMI Developments

We did not get a report this month on NAMI-CA developments. We know the future of the Journal is still one of the big issues and that interested NAMI members are reminded that the NAMI-CA board will take this up at their meeting scheduled for June 2 at the Oakland Airport. A legislative advocacy day is being sponsored in Sacramento on May 7.

Opinions expressed in this web site do not necessarily reflect the views of NAMI Santa Cruz County, NAMI California or any affiliated organizations. We attempt to present a balanced perspective on issues by presenting multiple viewpoints.

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