Santa Barbara County will need to fund three new positions in the public guardian’s office, consolidate office space, and eventually purchase more mental health beds to come in compliance with a new state mental health law.
“Some of our precious discretionary revenue will be going to this, as it is a mandate,” County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato told the Board of Supervisors during its Aug. 20 meeting. “Some counties are investigating with the state that this is an unfunded mandate and so hopefully we’ll get some relief. This gets the first take of any available revenue.”
Senate Bill 43 modifies the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, a 1967 state law that provides evaluation and treatment for a person who is severely disabled—meaning they cannot meet their personal needs like food, clothing, and shelter because of their mental illness. A person would go through an involuntary psychiatric hospitalization, involuntary medication, and conservatorship.
The modification adds personal safety and necessary medical care to the list of basic personal needs and adds severe substance use to the issues that could be considered severely disabling.
The legislation required jurisdictions to come into compliance by Jan. 1, 2024, but the Santa Barbara County Department of Behavioral Wellness requested a two-year extension in December because the department anticipated a tenfold increase in involuntary holds without additional state funding. However, in its update to the county, the department shared that it could be ready by July 2025.
“As you can imagine, a significant change to a system in place for nearly 60 years is quite a challenge,” Behavioral Wellness Director Toni Navarro told supervisors during her department’s update on SB 43 implementation.
In discussions with San Luis Obispo and San Francisco counties—two jurisdictions that have implemented SB 43—Santa Barbara County learned that referrals for Lanterman-Petris-Short investigations have gone up 50 percent, said Arlene Diaz, the county public services division chief for public guardian services.
The public guardians in the county Treasurer-Tax Collector-Public Administrator’s office conduct 30-day investigations to determine if a person qualifies for conservatorship, she said. If they qualify, guardians also appear in court, file paperwork and collect data on their client each year if they are looking to end or continue their conservatorship.
In order to keep up with projected increase, Diaz recommended adding two new deputies and one financial office professional to the budget at a cost of $242,000 for the 2024-25 fiscal year and $458,000 annually moving forward. The supervisors took no action for budget allocations during the Aug. 20 meeting.
“My staff hits the ground running; we are already well overtaxed. I have a person out on maternity leave, … I have two investigators that carry full caseloads and the supervisor that has the biggest caseload,” Diaz said. “I am now another investigator working to support our current clients in the caseload.”
Neighboring SLO County is looking to double its staff in the public guardians’ office because the jurisdiction implemented SB 43 without an idea of what the impacts would be, on the office’s client caseload, she said.
“Regarding what public guardians do, Diaz said it’s an oversight service. We are managing their money. We’re also responsible for making sure they are on their benefits, they stay on their benefits. What the public guardian is, is an oversight,” Diaz said. “We’re beyond the scope of what we can handle right now. … We’re not going to know the numbers until the numbers come out, but even one more referral is overwhelming.”
