California Releases Plan for Overhaul of Mental Health Programs

See this article by that title in the LA Times.  It begins:

California mental health officials on Wednesday detailed plans for a new Department of State Hospitals, a streamlined agency that they said would improve treatment and reduce patient violence at the troubled psychiatric facilities — as well as save money. 

The department, which will oversee the state's five mental hospitals and psychiatric programs at two of its prisons, is expected to replace the Department of Mental Health next year. The spinoff is the result of broader legislative changes intended to pass the department's other responsibilities — for community mental health care —- down to county governments.