Senate BillChaptered/SignedWelfare and Institutions
SB 16: Mental health: involuntary commitment.
What SB 16 does, verified September 19, 2026
The bill aims to end street homelessness in California by 2032. It requires local governments to adopt a comprehensive plan to address homelessness, including a housing element that identifies and analyzes existing and projected housing needs. The plan must include a methodology for distributing existing and projected regional housing need to jurisdictions and ensure that each jurisdiction receives an allocation of units for low- and very low-income households. The bill establishes a new round of funding for homelessness through the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program, which will provide one-time grant funds to support regional coordination and expand local capacity to address homelessness. To be eligible for funding, jurisdictions must submit a housing now action plan that includes key actions to sustain the operation of interim living spaces. The bill also requ…
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Last action: Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 314, Statutes of 2026. (2026-09-18)Alert me
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| Sep. 18, 2026 | Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 314, Statutes of 2026. |
| Sep. 18, 2026 | Approved by the Governor. |
| Sep. 09, 2026 | Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2 p.m. |
| Aug. 31, 2026 | Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 30. Noes 1.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling. |
| Aug. 31, 2026 | Unanimous consent granted to take up without reference to file. |
Latest bill textEnrolled version, September 4, 2026 · 991 words
| Enrolled September 04, 2026 |
| Passed IN Senate August 31, 2026 |
| Passed IN Assembly August 31, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly August 28, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly August 17, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly June 25, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly June 11, 2026 |
| Amended IN Assembly June 23, 2025 |
| Amended IN Senate April 24, 2025 |
| Amended IN Senate March 25, 2025 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 16
| Introduced by Senator Blakespear (Coauthor: Assembly Member Dixon) |
December 02, 2024 |
An act to amend Section 5121 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 16, Blakespear. Mental health: involuntary commitment.
Existing law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, provides for the involuntary detention and treatment of persons with specified mental health disorders. Under the act, when a person, as a result of a mental health disorder, is a danger to others, or to themselves, or gravely disabled, the person may, upon probable cause, be taken into custody and placed in a facility designated by the county and approved by the State Department of Health Care Services for up to 72 hours for evaluation and treatment. Existing law authorizes a county behavioral health director to develop procedures for the county’s designation and training of professionals who will be designated to perform the above-described provisions.
This bill would instead require a county behavioral health director to establish and implement procedures governing the county’s designation and training of professionals who will be designated to perform the above-described provisions. By imposing additional duties on county behavioral health directors, the bill would create a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 5121 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is amended to read:5121.
(a) The county behavioral health director shall establish and implement procedures governing the county’s designation and training of professionals who will be designated to perform functions under Section 5150. These procedures shall include, but are not limited to, the following:(1) The license types, practice disciplines, and clinical experience of professionals eligible to be designated by the county.
(2) The initial and ongoing training and testing requirements for professionals eligible to be designated by the county.
(3) The application and approval processes for professionals seeking to be designated by the county, including the timeframe for initial designation and procedures for renewal of the designation.
(4) The county’s process for monitoring and reviewing professionals designated by the county to ensure appropriate compliance with state law, regulations, and county procedures. A passive monitoring and review process that responds to and investigates, to the extent deemed appropriate by the county, complaints and grievances satisfies this provision.
(b) A county behavioral health director may develop a training for the procedures for designation developed pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) If a county behavioral health director denies or revokes an individual’s designation, the county behavioral health director shall, in writing, notify the person who made the request for designation of the individual and the individual who is the subject of the request for designation describing the reasons for denial or revocation.
(d) Designated members of a mobile crisis team and designated professional persons shall not be prohibited from transporting a person taken into custody pursuant to Section 5150.
(e) If the county behavioral health director of the County of Sacramento develops procedures pursuant to subdivision (a), the county behavioral health director of the County of Sacramento shall, by April 1, 2022, issue a written policy regarding the procedures developed pursuant to subdivision (a). The policy shall address, at a minimum, the topics identified in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a). The policy shall require the county behavioral health director of the County of Sacramento to designate individuals employed by the City of Sacramento who are also members of a mobile crisis team or who are also professional persons if all of the following are true:
(1) The City of Sacramento submits a written request to the county behavioral health director.
(2) The individuals meet the requirements for designation included in the policy.
(3) If the county behavioral health director of the County of Sacramento has developed a training pursuant to subdivision (b), the individuals have completed that training.
(f) (1) A county behavioral health director shall include an emergency physician as one of the practice disciplines eligible to be designated by the county when developing and implementing procedures pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).
(2) This subdivision does not affect the training, application, approval, and revocation process that applies to all professionals who are eligible to be designated by the county, including an emergency physician, in order to be designated by the county to perform functions under Section 5150.
(3) For purposes of this section, “emergency physician” means a physician and surgeon who provides medical screening and treatment of patients in the emergency department of a general acute care hospital licensed under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 1250) of Division 2 of the Health and Safety Code.
(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the authority of a county to establish criteria and procedures governing designation, including those described in paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a), provided those criteria and procedures are consistent with this section.
SEC. 2.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.Text of SB 16 as enrolled, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions