Newsom Proposes Expansion of Behavioral Health Treatment Services
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THE CHCF WEEKLY
March 28, 2023
The governor is calling on California’s legislature to approve a bond measure for the 2024 ballot. He seeks to raise $3 to $5 billion to dramatically expand residential treatment facilities for people with behavioral health conditions, with a goal of serving 10,000 additional people each year. State Senator Susan Eggman told the Los Angeles Times she is planning to develop legislation to move on Newsom’s plan.
The governor is also proposing to amend the state’s 2004 Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) so that at least $1 billion of MHSA funding would be available for housing and other community-based residential services each year.
The proposal includes other significant changes to the program, including broadening the target population to include people with a substance use disorder. Along with the governor's announcement, California Health and Human Services Agency also published an overview of the state's behavioral health reforms (PDF), showing how the key initiatives fit together.
In California, the number of psychiatric beds per 100,000 people decreased 31% from 1998 through 2017.
From the Blog
Claudia Boyd-Barrett How one clinic's pilot turned into a large-scale project to bring health care services to transitional and permanent supportive housing sites in greater Los Angeles. |
Claudia Boyd-Barrett In Los Angeles County, a 10-year-old program has moved 20,000 formerly homeless people with complex health needs into housing. It now serves as a model for communities nationwide. |
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Partner Spotlight
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Stories That Caught Our Attention
- Governor Gavin Newsom Moves to ‘Transform’ San Quentin as California Prison Population Shrinks (CalMatters)
San Quentin housed the state’s death row for decades. Now Governor Newsom wants the state's oldest prison to emphasize rehabilitation and help people who are released reenter society. Related: This CHCF blog post explores some of the health care challenges people face when they leave prison.
- First Group of Community College Students Accepted Into UC Riverside California Medicine Scholars Program (UC Riverside)
The new California Medicine Scholars Program aims to diversify the state’s primary care physician workforce and address the health care provider shortage. Related: CHCF health equity fellow Sequoia Hall explains in a blog post how the foundation is supporting the new program.
- Poll: Most Trans Adults Say Transitioning Made Them More Satisfied with Their Lives (Washington Post - paywall)
Transgender Americans are harassed, verbally abused, physically attacked, kicked out of their homes, denied health care, and accosted in bathrooms, an extensive poll finds. They have been fired or lost out on promotions because of their gender identity, and they are far more likely to experience serious mental health struggles. Yet, most transgender adults say transitioning has made them more satisfied with their lives.
- Nonprofit Hospitals Save More in Tax Exemptions Than They Provide in Charity Care: KFF (Axios)
Nonprofit hospitals reaped almost $28 billion in tax exemptions from federal, state, and local sources in 2020 while providing only about $16 billion in charity care.
- Prescription for Housing? California Wants Medicaid to Cover Six Months of Rent (California Healthline)
Governor Newsom is making a bold push for Medicaid health plans to provide more housing support. He argues it’s cheaper to pay rent than to allow homeless people to fall into crisis, which requires costly care in hospitals, nursing homes, and jails. Related: This CHCF handbook was produced to help managed care plans establish and strengthen relationships with partners in the housing-related sector.
- Alameda County’s Answer to Black Maternal Mortality is Working (KQED - podcast)
The Alameda Health System is completely rethinking what birthing looks like for Black people. It has a program that provides group perinatal care by, for, and with Black people — and it’s leading to better outcomes for the families involved. Related: Health care grantmakers wrote in a CHCF blog post that the philanthropy community has an urgent responsibility to address the structural factors that lead to birth inequities.
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