The Overview

California's licensed alcohol and drug treatment facilities must develop a suicide prevention plan, and the state must issue implementing regulations by January 1, 2031. California's Alcohol or other drug recovery and treatment programs and facilities: suicide prevention, AB 2562, became law when Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed it Sept. 27. People with substance use disorders face an elevated risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts, and U.S. deaths from suicide and substance use together ranked among the country's leading causes of death in 2024, according to KFF. ​

What the Law Does

Under existing state law, the Department of Health Care Services licenses and regulates adult alcohol and drug recovery or treatment facilities and certifies alcohol and drug programs; licensed facilities were already required to develop a plan for when a resident relapses, and certified programs were required to keep policies and procedures in an operations manual. The law adds a new requirement on top of those existing obligations: each licensed facility must develop a suicide prevention plan, and each certified program must include a suicide prevention plan in its operations manual.

Until it adopts regulations, the department may implement the requirement through a bulletin or an all-county or all-provider letter, after gathering stakeholder input. Those formal regulations must be finalized and in place by Jan. 1, 2031.

Legislative Status

Asm. Diane Dixon (R-CA-72) sponsored the bill and called it her last Assembly bill before it headed to the governor. Dixon marked the occasion in an Aug. 31 Facebook post, writing, "I am happy to share my last Assembly Bill, AB 2562, made it off the Assembly Floor and is headed for the Governor's desk!"

Every recorded vote passed without a single no: an Assembly committee approved it 16-0 on Apr. 14, another Assembly committee passed it 15-0 on May 14, the full Assembly passed it 74-0 on May 28, a Senate committee cleared it 11-0 on June 24, the full Senate passed it 40-0 on Aug. 27, and the Assembly concurred in Senate amendments 76-0 on Aug. 30. That string of unanimous votes, across both chambers and multiple committees, is rare for any legislation and signals broad agreement that the requirement was overdue.

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