CA SB142

Allows defendants to provide documentation of eligibility for public mental health services due to serious mental illness or Social Security Disability Insurance due to diagnosed mental illness, which courts must consider when determining sentencing and whether to refer offenders to county behavioral health treatment instead of incarceration.

Prohibits findings of mental disorder, treatment progress reports, and related mental health records from being used in other civil or administrative proceedings without the defendant's consent.

Establishes a State Community Mental Health Performance Incentives Fund to provide incentive payments to counties based on successful reduction in the number of adults with mental illness sent to state prison, calculated as the estimated number prevented from incarceration multiplied by 50% of the average cost to incarcerate an inmate with mental illness.

Requires counties receiving funds to establish Community Mental Health Performance Incentives Funds and use incentive payments to provide community-based mental health treatment services for adult offenders subject to local supervision and those at risk of arrest or incarceration.

Requires the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to annually report the number of inmates per county placed in the Mental Health Services Delivery System upon entry to state prison; authorizes evaluation by external entity and sunsets the chapter on January 1, 2025.