CALIFORNIA WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

DIVISION 5. COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

PART 1. THE LANTERMAN-PETRIS-SHORT ACT

CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

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5008. Unless the context otherwise requires, the following
definitions shall govern the construction of this part:
(a) "Evaluation" consists of multidisciplinary professional
analyses of a person's medical, psychological, educational, social,
financial, and legal conditions as may appear to constitute a
problem. Persons providing evaluation services shall be properly
qualified professionals and may be full-time employees of an agency
providing evaluation services or may be part-time employees or may be
employed on a contractual basis.

(b) "Court-ordered evaluation" means an evaluation ordered by a
superior court pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 5200)
or by a court pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 5225) of
Chapter 2.

(c) "Intensive treatment" consists of such hospital and other
services as may be indicated. Intensive treatment shall be provided
by properly qualified professionals and carried out in facilities
qualifying for reimbursement under the California Medical Assistance
Program (Medi-Cal) set forth in Chapter 7 (commencing with Section
14000) of Part 3 of Division 9, or under Title XVIII of the federal
Social Security Act and regulations thereunder. Intensive treatment
may be provided in hospitals of the United States government by
properly qualified professionals. Nothing in this part shall be
construed to prohibit an intensive treatment facility from also
providing 72-hour treatment and evaluation.

(d) "Referral" is referral of persons by each agency or facility
providing intensive treatment or evaluation services to other
agencies or individuals. The purpose of referral shall be to provide
for continuity of care, and may include, but need not be limited to,
informing the person of available services, making appointments on
the person's behalf, discussing the person's problem with the agency
or individual to which the person has been referred, appraising the
outcome of referrals, and arranging for personal escort and
transportation when necessary. Referral shall be considered complete
when the agency or individual to whom the person has been referred
accepts responsibility for providing the necessary services. All
persons shall be advised of available precare services which prevent
initial recourse to hospital treatment or aftercare services which
support adjustment to community living following hospital treatment.
These services may be provided through county welfare departments,
State Department of Mental Health, Short-Doyle programs or other
local agencies.

Each agency or facility providing evaluation services shall
maintain a current and comprehensive file of all community services,
both public and private. These files shall contain current
agreements with agencies or individuals accepting referrals, as well
as appraisals of the results of past referrals.

(e) "Crisis intervention" consists of an interview or series of
interviews within a brief period of time, conducted by qualified
professionals, and designed to alleviate personal or family
situations which present a serious and imminent threat to the health
or stability of the person or the family. The interview or
interviews may be conducted in the home of the person or family, or
on an inpatient or outpatient basis with such therapy, or other
services, as may be appropriate. Crisis intervention may, as
appropriate, include suicide prevention, psychiatric, welfare,
psychological, legal, or other social services.

(f) "Prepetition screening" is a screening of all petitions for
court-ordered evaluation as provided in Article 2 (commencing with
Section 5200) of Chapter 2, consisting of a professional review of
all petitions; an interview with the petitioner and, whenever
possible, the person alleged, as a result of mental disorder, to be a
danger to others, or to himself or herself, or to be gravely
disabled, to assess the problem and explain the petition; when
indicated, efforts to persuade the person to receive, on a voluntary
basis, comprehensive evaluation, crisis intervention, referral, and
other services specified in this part.

(g) "Conservatorship investigation" means investigation by an
agency appointed or designated by the governing body of cases in
which conservatorship is recommended pursuant to Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 5350).

(h)

(1) For purposes of Article 1 (commencing with Section 5150),
Article 2 (commencing with Section 5200), and Article 4 (commencing
with Section 5250) of Chapter 2, and for the purposes of Chapter 3
(commencing with Section 5350), "gravely disabled" means either of
the following:

(A) A condition in which a person, as a result of a mental
disorder, is unable to provide for his or her basic personal needs for food, clothing, or shelter.

(B) A condition in which a person, has been found mentally incompetent under Section 1370 of the Penal Code and all of the following facts exist:

(i) The indictment or information pending against the defendant at the time of commitment charges a felony involving death, great bodily harm, or a serious threat to the physical well-being of another person.

(ii) The indictment or information has not been dismissed.

(iii) As a result of mental disorder, the person is unable to understand the nature and purpose of the proceedings taken against him or her and to assist counsel in the conduct of his or her defense in a rational manner.

(2) For purposes of Article 3 (commencing with Section 5225) and
Article 4 (commencing with Section 5250), of Chapter 2, and for the
purposes of Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 5350), "gravely
disabled" means a condition in which a person, as a result of
impairment by chronic alcoholism, is unable to provide for his or her
basic personal needs for food, clothing, or shelter.

(3) The term "gravely disabled" does not include mentally retarded
persons by reason of being mentally retarded alone.

(i) "Peace officer" means a duly sworn peace officer as that term is defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code who has completed the basic training course established by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or any parole officer or probation officer specified in Section 830.5 of the Penal Code when acting in relation to cases for which he or she has a legally mandated responsibility.

(j) "Postcertification treatment" means an additional period of
treatment pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section 5300) of
Chapter 2.

(k) "Court," unless otherwise specified, means a court of record.

(l) "Antipsychotic medication" means any medication customarily
prescribed for the treatment of symptoms of psychoses and other
severe mental and emotional disorders.

(m) "Emergency" means a situation in which action to impose
treatment over the person's objection is immediately necessary for
the preservation of life or the prevention of serious bodily harm to
the patient or others, and it is impracticable to first gain consent.
It is not necessary for harm to take place or become unavoidable
prior to treatment.

5008.1. As used in this division and in Division 4 (commencing with
Section 4000), Division 4.1 (commencing with Section 4400), Division
6 (commencing with Section 6000), Division 7 (commencing with
Section 7100), and Division 8 (commencing with Section 8000), the
term "judicially committed" means all of the following:

(a) Persons who are mentally disordered sex offenders placed in a
state hospital or institutional unit for observation or committed to
the State Department of Mental Health pursuant to Article 1
(commencing with Section 6300) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 6.

(b) Developmentally disabled persons who are admitted to a state
hospital upon application or who are committed to the State
Department of Developmental Services by court order pursuant to
Article 2 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of
Division 6.

(c) Persons committed to the State Department of Mental Health or
a state hospital pursuant to the Penal Code.

5008.2. (a) When applying the definition of mental disorder for the
purposes of Articles 2 (commencing with Section 5200), 4 (commencing
with Section 5250), and 5 (commencing with Section 5275) of Chapter
2 and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 5350), the historical course
of the person's mental disorder, as determined by available relevant
information about the course of the person's mental disorder, shall
be considered when it has a direct bearing on the determination of
whether the person is a danger to others, or to himself or herself,
or is gravely disabled, as a result of a mental disorder. The
historical course shall include, but is not limited to, evidence
presented by persons who have provided, or are providing, mental
health or related support services to the patient, the patient's
medical records as presented to the court, including psychiatric
records, or evidence voluntarily presented by family members, the
patient, or any other person designated by the patient. Facilities
shall make every reasonable effort to make information provided by
the patient's family available to the court. The hearing officer,
court, or jury shall exclude from consideration evidence it
determines to be irrelevant because of remoteness of time or
dissimilarity of circumstances.

(b) This section shall not be applied to limit the application of
Section 5328 or to limit existing rights of a patient to respond to
evidence presented to the court.

(California Law consists of 29 codes)