Report 2021-109 Recommendation Responses
Report 2021-109: San Diego County Sheriff's Department: It Has Failed to Adequately Prevent and Respond to the Deaths of Individuals in Its Custody (Release Date: February 2022)
Recommendation for Legislative Action
To ensure that the San Diego Sheriff's Department identifies individuals' medical and mental health needs at intake, the Legislature should require it to revise its policies to better align with best practices, as follows:
- Revise its intake screening policy to require mental health professionals to perform its mental health evaluations. These evaluations should include a mental health acuity level rating scale to better inform individuals' housing assignments and service needs while in custody. The Sheriff's Department should communicate the acuity level rating it assigns to individuals to all detention staff overseeing them.
- Create a policy requiring health staff to review and consider each individual's medical and mental health history from the county health system during the intake screening process.
Description of Legislative Action
AB 268 (Weber, 2023) would commence July 1, 2024 and, among other things, require the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to develop and adopt regulations pertaining to standards of care for incarcerated people with mental health issues by local correctional facilities, including requirements for training of correctional staff, requirements for mental health screening, and requirements for safety checks of incarcerated people. The bill is pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee (3/22/2023).
- Legislative Action Current As-of: April 2023
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Legislation Introduced
Description of Legislative Action
As of September 2, 2022, the Legislature has not taken action to address this specific recommendation.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: September 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: No Action Taken
As of September 2, 2022, the Legislature has not taken action to address this specific recommendation.
Description of Legislative Action
As of April 4, 2022, the Legislature has not taken action to address this specific recommendation.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: April 2022