Chapter 13. Narcotic And Alcohol And Other Drug Abuse Programs of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 10.5. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 13.

The Legislature hereby finds and declares that it is essential to the health and welfare of the people of this state that action be taken by state government to effectively and economically utilize federal and state funds for narcotic and alcohol and other drug abuse prevention, care, treatment, and rehabilitation services. To achieve this, it is necessary that all of the following occur:
  (a) Existing fragmented, uncoordinated, and duplicative narcotic and alcohol and other drug abuse programs be molded into a comprehensive and integrated statewide program for the prevention of narcotic and alcohol and other drug abuse and for the care, treatment, and rehabilitation of narcotic addicts and alcohol and other drug users.
  (b) Responsibility and authority for planning programs and activities for prevention, care, treatment, and rehabilitation of narcotic addicts be concentrated in the department. It is the intent of the Legislature to assign responsibility and grant authority for planning narcotic and alcoholic and other drug abuse prevention, care, treatment, and rehabilitation programs to the department whose functions shall be subject to periodic review by the Legislature and appropriate federal agencies.
  (c) The department succeeds to, and is vested with, all the duties, powers, purposes, responsibilities, and jurisdiction with regard to substance abuse formerly vested in the State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs.

The department shall consult with state and local health planning bodies and encourage and promote effective use of facilities, resources, and funds in the development of integrated, comprehensive local programs for the prevention, care, treatment, and rehabilitation of narcotic and alcohol and other drug abuse.

Any community alcohol and other drug abuse service may by contract furnish community alcohol and other drug abuse services to any other county.

The department shall, within available resources, consult with federal, state and local agencies involved in the provision and delivery of services of prevention, care, treatment, and rehabilitation of alcohol and other drug abusers.

The department shall provide technical assistance, guidance, and information to local governments and state agencies with respect to the creation and implementation of programs and procedures for dealing effectively with alcohol and other drug abuse prevention, care, treatment, and rehabilitation. The department may charge a fee for these services.

The department shall establish goals and priorities for all state agencies providing narcotic and alcohol and other drug abuse services. All state governmental units operating alcohol and other drug programs or administering or subventing state or federal funds for alcohol and other drug programs shall annually set their program priorities and allocate funds in coordination with the department.

The department shall, in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as other state agencies, develop and submit annually to the Department of Finance a program budget.

(a) Once the negotiated rate with service providers has been approved by the county, all participating governmental funding sources, except the Medi-Cal program (Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code), shall be bound to that rate as the cost of providing all or part of the total county alcohol and other drug program as described in the county contract for each fiscal year to the extent that the governmental funding sources participate in funding the county alcohol and other drug program. Where the State Department of Health Services adopts regulations for determining reimbursement of alcohol and other drug program services formerly allowable under the Short-Doyle program and reimbursed under the Medi-Cal Act, those regulations shall be controlling only as to the rates for reimbursement of alcohol and other drug program services allowable under the Medi-Cal program and rendered to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Providers under this section shall report to the department and the county any information required by the department in accordance with the procedures established by the director of the department.
  (b) The Legislature recognizes that alcohol and other drug abuse services differ from mental health services provided through the State Department of Health Care Services and therefore should not necessarily be bound by rate determination methodology used for reimbursement of those services formerly provided under the Short-Doyle program and reimbursed under the Medi-Cal Act.

Expenditures incurred pursuant to this part shall be in accordance with the regulations of the director and shall be subject to payment whether incurred by direct or joint operation of the facilities and services, by provisions therefor through contract, or by other arrangement pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. The director may make investigations and audits of the expenditures as he or she may deem necessary.

(a) In determining the amounts that may be paid, fees paid by persons receiving services or fees paid on behalf of those persons by the federal government, by the California Medical Assistance Program set forth in Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and by other public or private sources, shall be deducted from the costs of providing services. Whenever feasible, alcohol and other drug abusing persons who are eligible for alcohol and other drug abuse services under the California Medical Assistance Program shall be treated in a facility approved for reimbursement in that program.
  (b) General unrestricted or undesignated private charitable donations and contributions made to charitable or nonprofit organizations shall not be considered as "fees paid by persons" or "fees paid on behalf of such persons" under this section and the contributions shall not be applied in determining the amounts to be paid. The unrestricted contributions shall not be used in part or in whole to defray the costs or the allocated costs of the California Medical Assistance Program.

The department shall coordinate all narcotic and alcohol and other drug abuse services and related programs conducted by state agencies with the federal government, and shall ensure that there is no duplication of those programs among state agencies and that all agreements, contracts, plans, and programs proposed to be submitted by any state agency, other than the Regents of the University of California, to the federal government in relation to narcotic and alcohol and other drug abuse related problems shall first be submitted to the state department for review and approval.

The department may require state agencies to contract with it for services to carry out the provisions of this division.

The department may accept and expend grants, gifts, and legacies of money, and, with the consent of the Department of Finance, accept, manage, and expend grants, gifts, and legacies of other properties in furtherance of the purposes of this division.

In addition to those expenditures authorized under Section 11851, expenditures shall include expenses incurred by members of the local advisory board on alcohol and other drug programs in providing alcohol and other drug program services through the implementation of an executed county contract. Payment shall be made of actual and necessary expenses of members incurred incident to the performance of their official duties and may include travel, lodging, and meals while on official business.

(a) Charges shall be made for services rendered to each person under a county contract in accordance with this section. Charges for the care and treatment of each client receiving service under a county contract shall not exceed the actual cost thereof as determined by the director in accordance with standard accounting practices. The fee requirement shall not apply to prevention and early intervention services. The director is not prohibited from including the amount of expenditures for capital outlay or the interest thereon, or both, in his or her determination of actual cost. The responsibility of a client, his or her estate, or his or her responsible relatives to pay the charges shall be determined in accordance with this section.
  (b) Each county shall determine the liability of clients rendered services under a county contract, and of their estates or responsible relatives, to pay the charges according to ability to pay. Each county shall collect the charges. The county shall establish and maintain policies and procedures for making the determinations of liability and collections, by collecting third-party payments and from other sources to the maximum extent practicable. The written criteria shall be a public record and shall be made available to the department or any individual. Fees collected shall be retained at the local level and be applied toward the purchase of additional drug services.
  (c) Services shall not be denied because of a client's ability or inability to pay. County-operated and contract providers of treatment services shall set and collect fees using methods approved by the county alcohol and drug program administrator. All approved fee systems shall conform to all of the following guidelines and criteria:
  (1) The fee system used shall be equitable.
  (2) The fee charged shall not exceed actual cost.
  (3) Systems used shall consider the client's income and expenses.
  (4) Each provider fee system shall be approved by the county alcohol and drug program administrator. A description of each approved system shall be on file in the county board office.
  (d) To ensure an audit trail, the county or provider, or both, shall maintain all of the following records:
  (1) Fee assessment schedules and collection records.
  (2) Documents in each client's file showing client's income and expenses, and how each was considered in determining fees.
  (e) Each county shall furnish the director with a cost report of information the director shall require to enable the director to maintain a cost-reporting system of the costs of alcohol and other drug program services in the county funded in whole or in part by funds identified in the county contract with the department. The cost-reporting system established pursuant to this section shall supersede the requirements of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 16366.7 of the Government Code for a quarterly fiscal reporting system. An annual cost report, for the fiscal year ending June 30, shall be submitted to the department by November 1.
  (f) The Legislature recognizes that alcohol and other drug programs may provide a variety of services described in this part, which services will vary depending on the needs of the communities that the programs serve. In devising a system to ensure that a county has expended its funds pursuant to an approved county contract, including the budget portions of the contract, the department shall take into account the flexibility that a county has in the provision of services and the changing nature of alcohol and other drug programs in responding to the community's needs.
  (g) The department shall maintain a reporting system to ensure that counties have budgeted and expended their funds pursuant to their approved contracts.
  (h) (1) Notwithstanding the rulemaking provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the department may implement, interpret, or make specific the amendments to this section made by the act that added this subdivision by means of all-county letters, plan letters, plan or provider bulletins, or similar instructions from the department until regulations are adopted pursuant to that chapter of the Government Code.
  (2) The department shall adopt emergency regulations no later than July 1, 2014. The department may subsequently readopt any emergency regulation authorized by this section that is the same as or is substantially equivalent to an emergency regulation previously adopted pursuant to this section.
  (3) The initial adoption of emergency regulations implementing the amendments to this section and the one readoption of emergency regulations authorized by this subdivision shall be deemed an emergency and necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety, or general welfare. Initial emergency regulations and the one readoption of emergency regulations authorized by this section shall be exempt from review by the Office of Administrative Law. The initial emergency regulations and the one readoption of emergency regulations authorized by this section shall be submitted to the Office of Administrative Law for filing with the Secretary of State and each shall remain in effect for no more than 180 days, by which time final regulations may be adopted.

Counties are encouraged to contract with providers for the provision of alcohol and drug abuse services. Counties shall comply with the regulations of the department for the management of contracts with community organizations.

The department shall devise and implement, in consultation with the counties, a program reporting method to evidence county compliance with this part. Until that date, the department shall ensure the payment and cost-reporting system does not impair the implementation of this part.

Each county may establish standards that meet or exceed state standards for the treatment and operation of all county-operated and county-contracted alcohol and other drug treatment facilities and services, hereafter referred to as a "quality assurance system." A "quality assurance system" is a systematic approach for the evaluation of the quality of care, which approach is designed to promote and maintain efficient, effective, and appropriate alcohol and other drug treatment services.

Payments or advances of funds to cities, counties, cities and counties, or other state agencies, which funds are properly chargeable to appropriations to the department, may be made by a Controller's warrant drawn against state funds appropriated to the department or federal funds administered by the department. No more than one-twelfth of the amount to be allocated to a given entity for the fiscal year may be advanced each month.

(a) The department may charge a reasonable fee for the certification or renewal certification of a program that voluntarily requests the certification. The fee shall be set at a level sufficient to cover administrative costs of the program certification process incurred by the department. In calculating the administrative costs the department shall include staff salaries and benefits, related travel costs, and state operational and administrative costs.
  (b) The department may contract with private individuals or agencies to provide technical assistance and training to qualify programs for state certification. The department may charge a fee for these services.

The department shall encourage the development of educational courses that provide core knowledge concerning alcohol and other drug problems and programs to personnel working within alcohol and other drug programs.

The department shall conduct onsite monitoring and reviews of individual county-operated alcohol and other drug programs and alcohol and other drug program administration with emphasis on the review of county administration. The administrative reviews shall include sampling of all services, including those provided by county contract providers.