Healthcare
Alcohol or other drug recovery and treatment programs and facilities: suicide prevention
California now requires alcohol and drug treatment programs and licensed residential facilities to maintain suicide prevention plans.
The law adds suicide prevention planning to the operational requirements for substance-use treatment settings, where clients may face elevated safety needs.
What the law does
- Requires certified alcohol or other drug programs to include a suicide prevention plan in their operations manuals.
- Requires licensed residential alcohol or other drug recovery and treatment facilities to develop a suicide prevention plan.
- Allows the State Department of Health Care Services to enforce the facility requirement through bulletins or all-county or all-provider letters after stakeholder input until regulations are issued.
- Requires the department to adopt regulations implementing the facility requirement by January 1, 2031.
Who it affects
- Certified alcohol or other drug programs.
- Licensed residential nonmedical alcohol or other drug recovery and treatment facilities.
- Clients receiving services from those programs and facilities.