Substance use: treatment or residential data reporting.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information on potential consequences of non-compliance or how this new requirement will interact with existing systems like Medi-Cal.

Substance Use: Reporting Treatment Data

This law requires alcohol and drug treatment facilities to report certain data annually starting in 2028.

What This Bill Does

• Requires alcohol and drug treatment centers, programs, and recovery homes to send yearly reports to the Department of Health Care Services about people getting help there.
• The reports must include how many people are being treated or living at these places and for how long.
• Does not apply to facilities that already report data through other systems like Medi-Cal.
• Requires the department to put out an annual report on its website with this information, but without personal details about individuals.

Who It Names or Affects

• Alcohol and drug treatment centers
• Recovery homes
• People who run these facilities

Terms To Know

Substance Use Disorder (SUD)

A medical condition where a person has problems controlling their use of drugs or alcohol.

Medi-Cal

California's Medicaid program that helps low-income people pay for health care services.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what will happen if facilities do not report the required data.
• It is unclear how this new reporting requirement will affect existing systems like Medi-Cal.

Official Summary Text

AB 1879, as amended, Dixon.
Substance use: treatment or residential data reporting.
Existing law provides for the licensure of alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facilities, and the certification of alcohol or other drug programs, by the State Department of Health Care Services.
Existing law requires these treatment providers to maintain records of referrals made to or from recovery residences, which include, but are not limited to, sober living homes.
Existing law requires the department to develop and maintain a centralized indicator data collection system that gathers and obtains information on the status of alcohol and other drug problems in the state, and requires the information to include, among other things, the number and characteristics of persons receiving recovery or treatment
services from alcohol and other drug programs providing publicly funded services or services licensed by the state. Existing data collection systems developed by the department, known as the California Outcomes Measurement System Treatment and Drug and the Alcohol Treatment Access Report, collect data for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment services and SUD treatment capacity from specified treatment providers.
This bill would require the above-described
facilities, programs, and residences,
facilities and programs,
commencing on January 1, 2028, to
annually
submit to the department certain data, including,
among other information, the number of individuals receiving treatment services from, or residing in, the respective entity, and the duration of the treatment or residential period.
treatment and outcome information and treatment availability information consistent with the requirements of the California Outcomes Measurement System Treatment and the Drug and the Alcohol Treatment Access Report. The bill would not apply to an entity that is contracted to provide Medi-Cal treatment services or contracted with the department, among others, and would clarify that these provisions do not impose additional or new reporting requirements on an entity that reports data to the department through the California Outcomes Measurement System Treatment and the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Access Report.
The bill would require the department to collect the data and publish an
annual report about the data on its internet website. The bill would require that the data exclude any personally identifiable information about the individuals, as specified.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF