BILL NUMBER: AB 847INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Mullin and Ridley-Thomas FEBRUARY 26, 2015 An act relating to mental health. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 847, as introduced, Mullin. Mental health: community-based services. Existing law establishes the State Department of Health Care Services and prescribes the department's powers and duties, including with respect to mental health services. Existing federal law, the Excellence in Mental Health Act, establishes criteria for the certification of federally qualified community behavioral health centers, and requires the administrator of the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration to certify centers that meet those criteria. The act also authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award matching grants to states to expend funds for the construction or modernization of facilities used to provide community-based mental health and substance abuse services. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would require the State Department of Health Care Services to initiate planning and apply for one of those grants. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would require the State Department of Health Care Services to initiate planning and apply to the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services for a federal matching grant, under the federal Excellence in Mental Health Act, to expend funds for the construction or modernization of facilities used to provide community-based mental health and substance abuse services.