SACRAMENTO – California’s State Senate on Friday approved a bill that gives counties broader options for treating individuals suffering under a 72-hour involuntary commitment order (commonly called a “5150”) for severe mental illness.

Senate Bill 364, authored by Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 38-0, and heads to the governor’s desk for his consideration.

“This year, the Legislature and Governor Brown have undertaken huge commitments to Californians suffering from mental illness” said Steinberg.

The Senate leader added, “We’ve dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars to more crisis treatment facilities and personnel, and this bill is another demonstration of our resolve to improve California’s mental healthcare infrastructure. Opening up options for treatment facilities removes the burden from jails and hospital ERs, and shifts emergency care to much more appropriate settings.”

SB364 clarifies Welfare and Institutions Code 5150 of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act for individuals with specified mental health disorders to include a wider range of facilities licensed or certified as mental health treatment facilities.

It also allows people to be treated without being detained, to be treated in less restrictive environments, and promotes the appropriate level of treatment for each individual by encouraging counties to develop training programs for designated mental health workers.

Senate Bill 364 also protects patient rights by allowing the individual to request treatment at a facility of their choice, requires the person to be advised that they may contact the county’s Patients’ Rights Advocates, and ensures the safeguarding of a person’s children and property when he or she is taken into a custodial hold.

The bill is supported by the California Mental Health Directors’ Association, Disability Rights California, and National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) California.