W&I §5585 — Children’s Civil Commitment and Mental Health Treatment Act of 1988 (72-Hour Hold for Minors)
Type: California Welfare and Institutions Code
Summary
The juvenile counterpart to W&I §5150 (which is the adult 72-hour hold). The operative 72-hour involuntary hold authority for minors lives in the Children’s Civil Commitment and Mental Health Treatment Act of 1988, codified at W&I §5585 et seq.; the principal “take into custody for 72-hour evaluation” provision is §5585.50.
A minor may be detained for up to 72 hours of treatment and evaluation when, as a result of mental disorder, the minor is a danger to others or to themselves, or is gravely disabled, and authorization for voluntary treatment is not available. The detaining professional must be a peace officer, a member of the attending staff of a county-designated evaluation facility, or another county-designated professional. The facility must make every reasonable effort to notify the minor’s parent or legal guardian as soon as possible after the minor is detained.
When to use
Operative reference whenever the legal basis for Ella’s 03/24/2026 hold needs to be addressed. The W&I §5585 framework — not §5150 — is the correct citation for a 12-year-old. The Telecare MCRT clinician Savannah Gracey, LCSW initiated the hold at Black Mountain Middle School, executed the DHCS 1801 application, and recorded an 11:57 AM detention start time on 3/24/2026. The hold led to Ella’s transfer to Aurora Behavioral Health. Cite §5585 (Children’s Civil Commitment Act) — and §5585.50 specifically — to correct any opposing reference to “5150” as imprecise when applied to a minor.
Section text (verbatim — operative custody / detention clause from §5585.50)
When any minor, as a result of mental disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled, and authorization for voluntary treatment is not available, a peace officer, member of the attending staff, as defined by regulation, of an evaluation facility designated by the county, designated members of a mobile crisis team, or other professional person designated by the county may, upon probable cause, take, or cause to be taken, the minor into custody and place him or her in a facility designated by the county and approved by the State Department of Health Care Services as a facility for 72-hour treatment and evaluation of minors. The facility shall make every effort to notify the minor’s parent or legal guardian as soon as possible after the minor is detained.
Scope / notes
- Most courthouse and clinical shorthand still loosely says “5150” even when the patient is a minor — the precise citation for a 12-year-old is §5585 / §5585.50.
- Extension to a 14-day intensive treatment hold is by separate certification under §5585 and successive sections (analogous to the adult §5250 extension).
Linked exhibits
Transclude of Exhibits-by-Statute.base