Section 7354.

Any mentally disordered person may be granted care in a licensed institution or other suitable licensed or certified facility. The State Department of State Hospitals may pay for that care at a rate not exceeding the average cost of care of patients in the state hospitals as determined by the Director of State Hospitals. The payments shall be made from funds available to the State Department of State Hospitals for that purpose.

The State Department of State Hospitals may make payments for services for mentally disordered patients in private facilities released or discharged from state hospitals on the basis of reimbursement for reasonable cost, using the same standards and rates consistent with those established by the State Department of Health Care Services for similar types of care. The payments shall be made within the limitation of funds appropriated to the State Department of State Hospitals for that purpose.

No payments for care or services of a mentally disordered patient shall be made by the State Department of State Hospitals pursuant to this section unless the care or services are requested by the local director of the mental health services of the county of the patient's residence, unless provision for the care or services is made in the county Short-Doyle plan of the county under which the county shall reimburse the department for 10 percent of the amount expended by the department, exclusive of the portion of the cost that is provided by the federal government.

The provision for the 10-percent county share shall be inapplicable with respect to any county with a population of under 100,000 which has not elected to participate financially in providing services under Division 5 (commencing with Section 5000) in accordance with Section 5709.5.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 24, Sec. 194. Effective June 27, 2012.)