Official Summary Text
SB 490, as amended, Umberg.
Victim compensation.
Alcohol and drug programs.
Existing law provides for the licensure and regulation of adult alcohol or other drug recovery or treatment facilities by the State Department of Public Health and prohibits the operation of one of those facilities without a current valid license. Existing law requires the department, if a facility is alleged to be in violation of that prohibition, to conduct a site visit to investigate the allegation. Existing law requires, if the department’s employee or agent finds evidence that the facility is providing services without a license, the employee or agent to take specified actions, including, among others, submitting the findings of the investigation to the department and issuing a written notice to the facility that includes the date by which the facility is required to cease providing services.
Existing law establishes the Medi-Cal program, which is administered by the State Department of Health Care Services and under which qualified low-income individuals receive health care services, through fee-for-service or managed care delivery systems. The Medi-Cal program is, in part, governed and funded by federal Medicaid program provisions. Existing law establishes the Drug Medi-Cal Treatment Program (Drug Medi-Cal) and authorizes the department to enter into a Drug Medi-Cal contract with each county for the provision of alcohol and drug use services within the county service area.
This bill would require the department, if it determines it has jurisdiction over the allegation, to initiate that investigation within 10 days of receiving the allegation and, except as specified, complete the investigation within 60 days of initiating the investigation. The bill would require the department, if it receives a complaint that
does not fall under its jurisdiction, to notify the complainant that it does not investigate that type of complaint. The bill would require the employee or agent to provide the notice described above within 10 days of the employee or agency submitting their findings to the department and to conduct a followup site visit to determine whether the facility has ceased providing services as required. The bill would authorize, in counties that elect to administer the Drug Medi-Cal organized delivery system and that provide optional recovery housing services, the county behavioral health agency to request approval from the department to conduct a site visit of a recovery residence that is alleged to be operating without a license. The bill would permit the department to approve that request in certain circumstances, including that the department has sufficient evidence to substantiate the allegation.
Existing law requires licensed adult alcohol or other drug recovery or
treatment facilities and certified alcohol or other drug programs to disclose to the department whether any of its agents, partners, directors, officers, or owners has a specified interest in a recovery residence and requires the department to take action against an unlicensed facility that is disclosed as a recovery residence.
This bill would require the department, if it takes action against a recovery residence pursuant to that provision, to conduct a site visit of a certified program or licensed facility that has disclosed the specified interest in the recovery residence. The bill would also require, no later than July 15, 2026, and by July 15 each year thereafter, that all programs certified or facilities licensed by the department submit to the department a report of all money transfers between the program or facility and a recovery residence during the previous fiscal year, in order to detect patient brokering, illicit kickbacks, or unethical inducements that
harm patients. The bill would require the department to analyze that data and develop guidelines for permissible and impermissible transfers.
Existing law allows a person who is factually innocent and was convicted of a crime, in specified circumstances, to present a claim to the California Victim Compensation Board or move the court for a finding that they are entitled to approval of a claim for compensation for the injury sustained by the person through the erroneous conviction and imprisonment or incarceration. Existing law allows the district attorney or Attorney General to object to this claim and attempt to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that the person committed the acts constituting the offense. Existing law prohibits the district attorney or Attorney General from relying on specified facts to prove that objection, including, among other things, the fact the state still maintains the claimant is guilty of the crime for which they were wrongfully convicted. Existing law also prohibits the district attorney
or Attorney General from relying solely on the trial record to establish that the petitioner is not entitled to compensation.
This bill would remove that prohibition and instead authorize the district attorney or Attorney General to rely solely on the trial record if they conclude, in good faith, that the trial record demonstrates guilt by clear and convincing evidence even after consideration of any exculpatory evidence presented by the claimant.
Existing law requires the court to grant a motion for a
finding that the person is entitled to approval of a claim for compensation unless the district attorney objects within 15 days. Existing law requires the California Victim Compensation Board to approve payment to the claimant unless the Attorney General objects within 45 days. Existing law authorizes the district attorney and the Attorney General to request a single extension of those time periods upon a showing of good cause.
This bill would extend the time period for the district attorney to object to 45 days and authorize the district attorney, upon a separate showing of good cause, to request a single, subsequent 15-day extension of time to make their
objection. The bill would also authorize the Attorney General, upon a separate showing of good cause, to request a single, subsequent 45-day extension of time to make their objection.
The bill would additionally prohibit compensation for an erroneous conviction from being paid to a person serving a sentence for a serious or violent felony. The bill would also require that if a claimant has an outstanding restitution order, that order be paid from the claimant’s compensation before the claimant is paid.