​Felony Incompetent to Stand Trial (IST) Growth Cap and Penalty Program

Over the past few years, CSAC, with help from county affiliates and partners, have worked with the Administration to implement changes to the California Department of State Hospitals (DSH) growth cap and penalty program. This past year, an additional change to the penalty formula was accepted by DSH, which will potentially reduce the penalty amount for counties who exceed their IST commitment growth cap, if they remain below the median statewide IST commitment rate. These program improvements align with the shared goal of reducing the number of IST commitments, while also reducing the total statewide county penalty amount in the millions of dollars, which will be critical as we approach fiscal year 2026-27 when the tiered penalty rate schedule will sunset. CSAC will continue its advocacy efforts whether that is incorporating further changes to the IST growth cap and penalty program or engaging on legislation and budget items that impact local systems and the larger IST population that are served by counties.

• CSAC Felony IST Issue Brief

• Department of State Hospitals 

• Office of the State Public Defender 

Policy Documents 

• DSH Growth Cap Policy: Letter 23-003: IST Growth Cap and Penalty Payments, Revised (Issue Date 01/31/2024) 

• Attachment A: FY 2021-22 Baseline Data Adjusted (Issue Date 5/31/2024) 

• Attachment B: FY 2022-23 Unreconciled Data Adjusted (Issue Date 5/31/2024) 

• Attachment C: IST Determination Methodology 

• Attachment D: Sharing Individualized Records 

• Attachment E: Dispute Process (Issue Date 11/15/2024) 

• Attachment F: Rate & Tier (Issue Date 8/15/2024) 

Expenditure Templates 

• Growth Cap Expenditure Plan Template – PDF (Issue Date 3/1/2024) 

• Growth Cap Expenditure Plan – Word Document (Issue Date 3/1/2024) 

Annual Report Templates 

• Growth Cap Annual Expense Report Template – PDF (Issue Date 7/1/2024) 

• Growth Cap Annual Expense Report Template – Word Document (Issue Date 7/1/2024) 

• Attachment 1: Actual Expense Spreadsheet – Excel Document (Issue Date 7/1/2024)