4240-4245
WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE
SECTION 4240-4245
4240. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) The symptoms and behaviors of persons with serious mental disorders may cause severe disruption of normal family relationships. (b) Families are often the principal caregivers, housing providers, and case managers for family members with serious mental disorders. (c) Families of persons with serious mental disorders more often than not have little or no legal authority over their adult mentally disordered and sometimes difficult to manage family members and consequently need advice, skills, emotional support, and guidance to cope with the stressful burden of caregiving in order to be effective and helpful. (d) Involved families are of inestimable value to the publicly funded and professionally operated state and county mental health system and programs emphasizing self-help can be the best way to assist families in maintaining the cohesion of family life while caring for and assisting a mentally disordered family member. (e) Since the state's mental health resources are limited and are increasingly being directed on a priority basis toward provision of services to persons with serious mental disorders, informed and active families helping one another can effectively extend and amplify the value of state mental health dollars. 4241. It is the intent of the Legislature, by this chapter, to support an organized program of self-help in which families exchange information, advice, and emotional support to enable them to maintain and strengthen family life and secure or provide more effective treatment, care, and rehabilitation for mentally disordered family members. It is further the intent of the Legislature to utilize an existing organized statewide network of families, who have mentally disordered family members, as a means of delivering the services designated in this chapter. 4242. As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply: (a) "Family" means persons whose children, spouses, siblings, parents, grandparents, or grandchildren have a serious mental disorder. (b) "Serious mental disorder" means a mental disorder that is severe in degree and persistent in duration and that may cause behavioral disorder or impair functioning so as to interfere substantially with activities of daily living. Serious mental disorders include schizophrenia, major affective disorders, and other severely disabling mental disorders. 4243. (a) All funds appropriated for the purposes of this chapter shall be used to contract with an organization to establish a statewide network of families who have mentally disordered family members for the purpose of providing information, advice, support, and other assistance to these families. (b) A request for proposal shall be issued seeking applicants who are capable of supplying the services specified in Section 4244. The respondent organizations shall demonstrate that they: (1) Focus their activities exclusively on the seriously mentally disordered. (2) Have experience in successfully working with state agencies, including, but not limited to, the State Department of Mental Health. (3) Have the ability to reach and involve the target population as active members. (4) Have proven experience providing structured self-help services that benefit the target population. (5) Have experience holding statewide and local conferences to educate families and professionals regarding the needs of the mentally disordered. (6) Have the financial and organizational structure and experience to manage the funds provided under the proposed contract. 4244. The Director of Mental Health shall enter into a contract with the successful bidder to provide services which shall include, but not be necessarily limited to, all of the following: (a) Production and statewide dissemination of information to families regarding methods of obtaining and evaluating services needed by mentally disordered family members. (b) Provision of timely advice, counseling, and other supportive services to assist families in coping with emotional stress and to enable them to care for or otherwise assist mentally disordered family members. (c) Organizing family self-help services in local communities, accessible to families throughout the state. (d) Conducting training programs for mental health practitioners and college and university students to inform current and future mental health professionals of the needs of families and methods of utilizing family resources to assist mentally disordered clients. 4245. Contracts entered in pursuant to this chapter shall: (a) Have an annual contract period from July 1 through June 30 of each fiscal year unless the Director of Mental Health or the contractor terminates the contract earlier. (b) Require an annual report by the contractor accounting for all expenditures and program accomplishments.