Behavioral health multidisciplinary personnel team.

Assembly Member Quirk-Silva's behavioral health initiative authorizes California counties to establish multidisciplinary teams focused on connecting justice-involved individuals with mental illness to supportive services during and after incarceration. The teams, comprising behavioral health professionals, medical personnel, social workers, and case managers, can share confidential information to coordinate care while adhering to federal and state privacy requirements.

Counties implementing these teams must develop comprehensive protocols governing information sharing among provider agencies, including social services, health services, probation, law enforcement, and legal counsel. These protocols must specify data elements to be shared, define participating agencies, establish information retention schedules, and mandate security controls that meet federal and state standards. Team members receive and share confidential information under strict privacy obligations, with existing civil and criminal penalties applying to unauthorized disclosures.

The measure builds upon current law that permits counties to create similar teams for homeless individuals and families. All information sharing must comply with established privacy frameworks, including HIPAA, the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, and the Information Practices Act of 1977. Counties must publish their protocols online within 30 days of adoption, though the timeline for establishing teams remains at county discretion.