California is reinventing how it deals with mental illness. Now the locals have to make it work
1 year, 2 months ago

California is reinventing how it deals with mental illness. Now the locals have to make it work

LA Times  

Earlier this year, when Gov. By expanding the definition of “gravely disabled” with the addition of substance use disorder, SB 43, signed Tuesday, allows more opportunities for holding someone against their will, and Proposition 1 will help pay for more mental health campuses, supportive housing including locked facilities and healthcare staff. “But so much more could be happening if you were to reverse-engineer the system, so that grassroot efforts inform the top.” The results leave behavioral health directors like Bergmann to try to anticipate the impact of the new laws upon their agencies and the personnel who support mental health treatment programs. “This could invite struggles with powerfully entrenched elements of the community mental health system,” Shaner said. “With stresses on society — homelessness, visibility of severe mental illness — it has become apparent that no matter how much money we were putting in community mental health treatment it has not been effective for treatment of everyone with severe mental illness,” he said.

Community Mental Health Treatment Services Health Care Mental Illness Work Funding Illness Mental California Newsom System Proposition 1 Shaner Bergmann  work  health  care  sb  bergmann  california  treatment  illness  reinventing  deals  community  funding  services  system  locals  mental

History of this topic

$3.3 billion available for mental health beds as Newsom jump-starts Prop. 1 spending
7 months, 1 week ago

$3.3 billion available for mental health beds as Newsom jump-starts Prop. 1 spending

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom announced that the first batch of funding from Proposition 1 to build mental health treatment facilities will be available in July. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that the state will make $3.3 billion in funding available by July to begin building inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment centers as part of a massive effort to transform California’s mental health …

California voters pass measure pushed by governor to tackle homelessness crisis in razor-thin win
9 months ago

California voters pass measure pushed by governor to tackle homelessness crisis in razor-thin win

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California voters have approved a measure that will impose strict requirements on counties to spend on housing and drug treatment programs to tackle the state’s homelessness crisis, in a tissue-thin win for Gov. Democrats outnumber Republicans by a staggering 2-to-1 in California, and the borderline vote — coming more than two weeks after election day — signaled …

California voters pass Proposition 1 to tackle the state's homelessness crisis
9 months ago

California voters pass Proposition 1 to tackle the state's homelessness crisis

NPR  

California voters pass Proposition 1 to tackle the state's homelessness crisis Enlarge this image toggle caption Damian Dovarganes/AP Damian Dovarganes/AP SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California voters have approved a measure that will impose strict requirements on counties to spend on housing and drug treatment programs to tackle the state's homelessness crisis, in a tissue-thin win for Gov. Democrats outnumber Republicans by …

Opinion: Californians narrowly passed Proposition 1. Can the state ensure the measure will work?
9 months ago

Opinion: Californians narrowly passed Proposition 1. Can the state ensure the measure will work?

LA Times  

In a contest so close that it took more than two weeks to call the race, Californians narrowly passed Proposition 1, a $6.4-billion bond measure and reallocation of existing funds to address mental health and homelessness in the state. Proponents of Proposition 1 say it will create direly needed treatment facilities and housing that can also address the state’s addiction …

Voters approve Proposition 1, Newsom’s overhaul of the California mental health system
9 months ago

Voters approve Proposition 1, Newsom’s overhaul of the California mental health system

LA Times  

The close contest over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $6.4-billion bond measure to transform California’s mental health system finally ended Wednesday, more than two weeks after the primary election. The Californians Against Proposition 1 campaign said the measure wasn’t a huge win for Newsom, but “an embarrassing squeaker of a victory.” “By cutting off services and reducing early intervention programs, Prop. Luna …

Californians Split On Ballot Measure To Tackle Homelessness Crisis
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Californians Split On Ballot Measure To Tackle Homelessness Crisis

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California voters were split in early returns over a statewide ballot measure touted by Gov. The Democratic governor says the proposition is needed to address the state’s homelessness crisis by boosting investments in housing and substance use programs, but social providers worry it would threaten programs that are keeping people from becoming homeless in …

Californians to vote on measure governor says he needs to tackle homelessness crisis
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Californians to vote on measure governor says he needs to tackle homelessness crisis

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Californians are set to vote …

Newsom’s Prop. 1 holds narrow lead in California primary
9 months, 2 weeks ago

Newsom’s Prop. 1 holds narrow lead in California primary

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom kicked off his campaign for Proposition 1 at Los Angeles General Medical Center in January. Gavin Newsom championed as critical to solving the state’s mental health and homelessness crisis, holds a narrow lead in California’s primary election, but the contest was too close to call Wednesday with votes still being counted across the state. The measure redirects an …

The cost of Prop. 1: Newsom’s plan to transform California’s mental health system
9 months, 3 weeks ago

The cost of Prop. 1: Newsom’s plan to transform California’s mental health system

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom kicks off his campaign for Proposition 1 at Los Angeles General Medical Center on Jan. 3. Gavin Newsom’s ballot measure to overhaul the state’s mental health services system and sell bonds to finance more than 10,000 treatment beds across California could cost the state up to $14 billion. An LAO analysis of the measure says $4.4 billion from …

Things to know about California’s Proposition 1
10 months, 1 week ago

Things to know about California’s Proposition 1

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California voters this March will decide on a statewide ballot measure that Democratic Gov. It also would allow the state to borrow $6.38 billion to build 4,350 housing units, half of which would be reserved for veterans, and add 6,800 mental health and addiction treatment beds. About a third would go toward housing and rental assistance for …

Things to know about California's Proposition 1
10 months, 1 week ago

Things to know about California's Proposition 1

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. It also would allow the state to borrow …

Some worry California proposition to tackle homelessness would worsen the problem
10 months, 1 week ago

Some worry California proposition to tackle homelessness would worsen the problem

Associated Press  

OROVILLE, Calif. — Democratic California Gov. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who authored the 2004 millionaire tax, said the funding is meant to serve homeless people with serious mental illnesses and that county officials and providers “miss the big picture.” “While it has funded many good programs over 20 years, it has gotten away from the original purpose,” Steinberg said. A …

Some worry California proposition to tackle homelessness would worsen the problem
10 months, 1 week ago

Some worry California proposition to tackle homelessness would worsen the problem

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. A recent survey by the University of San Francisco's …

Virginia’s Youngkin aims to bolster mental health care, part of national focus after the pandemic
10 months, 1 week ago

Virginia’s Youngkin aims to bolster mental health care, part of national focus after the pandemic

Associated Press  

RICHMOND, Va. — John Clair, the police chief of a small Appalachian town in southwest Virginia, spends his days consumed by a growing problem: the frequency with which his officers are tapped to detain, transport and wait in hospitals with people in the throes of a mental health crisis. The problem underscores a widely held consensus that Virginia’s mental health …

‘Universal frustration’: In California, a crisis so dire Republicans and Democrats are working together
10 months, 3 weeks ago

‘Universal frustration’: In California, a crisis so dire Republicans and Democrats are working together

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom has an unusual ally in his Proposition 1 ballot measure to boost funding for mental health: an outspoken Donald Trump supporter and Kern County lawmaker who co-chaired the committee that led the failed 2021 recall effort against the governor. She recently wrote an opinion piece arguing in favor of his proposal to address the state’s mental health crisis …

Endorsement: Yes on Proposition 1, a modest step forward on mental health care
10 months, 3 weeks ago

Endorsement: Yes on Proposition 1, a modest step forward on mental health care

LA Times  

Battered recreational vehicles that serve as shelter for homeless people line a street in an industrial section of downtown Los Angeles in 2023. The second part is an amendment of the Mental Health Services Act, the 2004 ballot measure taxing annual income over $1 million by 1%. Many nonprofit providers of mental health care and substance use treatment argue that …

A year after the government halved psychology subsidies, Australians are delaying or foregoing treatment
11 months ago

A year after the government halved psychology subsidies, Australians are delaying or foregoing treatment

ABC  

Since rebates for psychology sessions were halved a year ago, the cost of living crisis has forced Australians to compromise and even forego critical mental health care. Psychologist rebates halved for mental health patients Photo shows Mark Butler frowns at a press conference Subsidised visits to psychologists will be halved within weeks, with the new federal government abandoning a program …

Newsom urges support for March ballot measure to reform California’s mental health system
11 months, 3 weeks ago

Newsom urges support for March ballot measure to reform California’s mental health system

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom kicked off his campaign for Proposition 1 at the Los Angeles General Medical Center on Jan. 3, 2024. Gavin Newsom gathered with city leaders and public safety officials Wednesday to urge support of Proposition 1, an overhaul of the state’s mental health system that will be on California’s March 5 primary election ballot. The measure would reform California’s …

Most Americans with mental health needs don't get treatment, report finds
1 year ago

Most Americans with mental health needs don't get treatment, report finds

NPR  

Most Americans with mental health needs don't get treatment, report finds Enlarge this image toggle caption SDI Productions/Getty Images SDI Productions/Getty Images Roughly two-thirds of Americans with a diagnosed mental health condition were unable to access treatment in 2021, though they had health insurance. While the overall findings aren't surprising, "it is striking that the access impediments remain what they …

California governor signs 2 major proposals for mental health reform to go before voters in 2024
1 year, 2 months ago

California governor signs 2 major proposals for mental health reform to go before voters in 2024

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two major pieces of legislation Thursday to transform the state’s mental health system and address the state’s worsening homelessness crisis, putting them both before voters in 2024. “We are going to transform the system, but we’re also doing something that should’ve been done 50 years ago, and that is build the beds …

New California law aims to force people with mental illness or addiction to get help
1 year, 2 months ago

New California law aims to force people with mental illness or addiction to get help

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — More Californians with untreated mental illness and addiction issues could be detained against their will and forced into treatment under a new law signed by Gov. The new law, which reforms the state’s conservatorship system, expands the definition of “gravely disabled” to include people who are unable to provide themselves basic needs such as food and shelter …

California’s new mental health court rolls out to high expectations and uncertainty
1 year, 2 months ago

California’s new mental health court rolls out to high expectations and uncertainty

Associated Press  

SAN FRANCISCO — An alternative mental health court program designed to fast-track people with untreated schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders into housing and medical care — potentially without their consent — kicked off in seven California counties, including San Francisco, on Monday. “It’s hopefully going to help some people who need some help, and it is probably not going to …

Opinion: California needs new rules as it forces more mentally ill people into treatment
1 year, 3 months ago

Opinion: California needs new rules as it forces more mentally ill people into treatment

LA Times  

Proponents of forced treatment often point to seemingly clear cases, like that of James Mark Rippee of Vacaville, a blind man with schizoaffective disorder who was turned down for a conservatorship after twice being hit by cars. California law has tried for almost 50 years to protect people with mental illness from forced treatment, and for just as long, critics …

California lawmakers approve bills including eviction protections and mental health care reform
1 year, 3 months ago

California lawmakers approve bills including eviction protections and mental health care reform

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Legislature voted Thursday to bolster eviction protections for renters and close a loophole in an existing law that has allowed landlords to circumvent the state’s rent cap. The eviction reform bill was among hundreds approved before the end of a late legislative session, including giving striking workers unemployment benefits and reforms to the state’s mental …

California lawmakers approve key changes to landmark mental health law
1 year, 3 months ago

California lawmakers approve key changes to landmark mental health law

LA Times  

Senate Bill 43 expands the criteria for the detention, treatment and conservatorship to address the statewide mental illness crisis made worse by homelessness and illicit drugs. “This is the year we got there,” said Eggman, who sees SB 43 as one of a series of legislative victories that have transformed mental health care in the state. Together with the CARE …

California’s Assembly votes for ballot measure that would change how mental health care is funded
1 year, 3 months ago

California’s Assembly votes for ballot measure that would change how mental health care is funded

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers voted Tuesday to put a proposal before voters next March that would overhaul how counties pay for mental and behavioral health programs in an effort to address the state’s worsening homelessness crisis. Gavin Newsom wants changes to restrict how local governments can use that money, with an emphasis on mental health and drug and alcohol …

Lawmakers approve Newsom’s plan to transform California’s mental health system
1 year, 3 months ago

Lawmakers approve Newsom’s plan to transform California’s mental health system

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom, seen in 2022, has received resistance from all sides in his efforts to address the homelessness crisis. Gavin Newsom’s plan to transform the state’s mental health system with rare bipartisan support, sending him a proposal for the March 2024 ballot that would expand substance abuse services and generate nearly $6.4 billion to build facilities to provide 10,000 new …

California has billions to spend on mental health. Where should the money go?
1 year, 4 months ago

California has billions to spend on mental health. Where should the money go?

LA Times  

It was a ballot initiative born out of a lack of hope from advocates that Sacramento would ever fund the public mental health system. California is expecting a whopping $4.7 billion in Mental Health Services Act money for the 2023-24 fiscal year — and L.A. County generally receives about one-fourth of the total, according to data provided by the Legislative …

‘Against their will’: A proposed law would make it easier to detain people with mental illness
1 year, 8 months ago

‘Against their will’: A proposed law would make it easier to detain people with mental illness

LA Times  

A bill proposed by state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman would make it easier to detain against their will people who are in extreme psychological distress. When lawmakers, mayors, psychiatrists and mental health advocates gathered last month to unveil a bill that would “enact major changes to California’s behavioral health law,” they put into motion an annual ritual in Sacramento. Calling …

Need help for loved ones with severe mental health illness? California has a plan
1 year, 8 months ago

Need help for loved ones with severe mental health illness? California has a plan

NPR  

Need help for loved ones with severe mental health illness? "Over time we are really going to give Californians a new tool to support our neighbors who are both experiencing severe behavioral health conditions.and their connection to issues of housing instability, homelessness and the inability to meet basic needs," says Dr. Mark Ghaly California's Secretary of Health and Human Services. …

California to seek beds for mental health, drug treatment
1 year, 9 months ago

California to seek beds for mental health, drug treatment

Associated Press  

SAN DIEGO — California voters would decide whether to fund a major expansion of housing and treatment for residents suffering from mental illness and addiction, under the latest proposal by Gov. In addition, it would overhaul California’s Mental Health Services Act, an initiative approved by voters in 2004 that charges a 1% tax on incomes greater than $1 million to …

California bill could mean more mentally ill people detained
1 year, 9 months ago

California bill could mean more mentally ill people detained

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — More people in California could be detained against their will because of a mental illness under a new bill backed Wednesday by the mayors of some of the nation’s largest cities, who say they are struggling to care for the bulk of the country’s homeless population. A state law allows courts to order people into treatment, but …

Why California’s much-touted CARE Court is ‘no one-and-done program’
1 year, 11 months ago

Why California’s much-touted CARE Court is ‘no one-and-done program’

LA Times  

Gavin Newsom announces his plan for the CARE Court program at a mental health treatment center in San Jose in March. “But the changes will likely be incremental.” Veronica Kelley, behavioral health director for Orange County, which has also been tagged for the early rollout, has been working with the National Alliance on Mental Illness “to make clear what CARE …

Letters to the Editor: California made a huge mistake closing its psychiatric hospitals
2 years ago

Letters to the Editor: California made a huge mistake closing its psychiatric hospitals

LA Times  

Deborah Smith looks over photos of her son Nicholas, who is struggling with mental illness, at her home in Duarte on Dec. 8. To the editor: As a firefighter and paramedic in Santa Barbara, I responded to medical emergencies involving homeless people, getting to know their stories and histories. In a second career, I worked as a mental health counselor …

Column: New York will treat more mentally ill people against their will. Should California follow?
2 years ago

Column: New York will treat more mentally ill people against their will. Should California follow?

LA Times  

Maddie Delaney and her mother, Jennifer Williams, last month, a few weeks before Delaney was killed in a hit-and-run in Modesto. Recently, California and New York City have made bold moves to help people like Delaney — those with serious mental illness chronically living on the streets — because it has become painfully obvious that for a small set of …

Jail and prison will never be places a person with mental illness finds healing
2 years, 3 months ago

Jail and prison will never be places a person with mental illness finds healing

LA Times  

Luis Garcia, who works for Advocates for Human Potential, writes about how he found hope and success after being incarcerated. Seeking access to mental health care in jail and prison wasn’t easy. Recent reports reveal access to mental health care in California’s state prison system continues to fall short. The county remains woefully out of compliance more than six years …

The mental health system failed our son, but we hold on to hope
2 years, 3 months ago

The mental health system failed our son, but we hold on to hope

LA Times  

Edward and Bea Stricklan are the parents of a man with serious mental illness who is incarcerated in L.A. County’s Twin Towers jail. In the same way that some parents keep track of their children’s accomplishments for their annual family newsletters or save mementos for scrapbooks, we’ve kept a regularly updated timeline of every crisis, and every mental health clinic, …

Why housing advocates oppose a new California law designed to help the homeless
2 years, 3 months ago

Why housing advocates oppose a new California law designed to help the homeless

Salon  

Tens of thousands of people lack access to housing in California. "This law violates a person's right to self-determination and violates people's right to choose how they want to and need to address their problems," Sam Tsemberis told Salon in an email. "Law enforcement and outreach workers would have a new tool to threaten unhoused people with referral to the …

CARE Court will change how California addresses serious, untreated mental illness. Here’s how
2 years, 3 months ago

CARE Court will change how California addresses serious, untreated mental illness. Here’s how

LA Times  

California has a new statewide approach to treatment for people struggling with serious mental illness: the CARE Court. A court may also start the program by referring a person from assisted outpatient treatment, conservatorship proceedings or misdemeanor proceedings to a CARE treatment plan. The plan — developed by county behavioral health professionals, the individual and the volunteer supporter — can …

California governor OKs mental health courts for homeless
2 years, 3 months ago

California governor OKs mental health courts for homeless

Associated Press  

SAN FRANCISCO — With more than 100,000 people living on California’s streets, Gov. “This has been architected completely differently than anything you’ve seen in the state of California, arguably in the last century.” Some progressives have spoken out against Newsom blocking certain priorities, including vetoing a bill that would have authorized supervised safe-injection sites for drug users and opposing a …

CA lawmakers approve mental health care plan for homeless
2 years, 3 months ago

CA lawmakers approve mental health care plan for homeless

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will establish a new court program to steer — even force — homeless people with severe mental disorders into treatment after lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to a proposal pitched in March by Democratic Gov. Newsom said in a statement that passage “means hope for thousands of Californians suffering from severe forms of mental illness …

Column: These families are flaming the ACLU as California debates mental health care
2 years, 4 months ago

Column: These families are flaming the ACLU as California debates mental health care

LA Times  

Family members who have loved ones with severe mental illnesses gathered at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Monday in support of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal for CARE Court, an effort to expedite treatment for those with severe mental health conditions. These families feel that their lived experience is being ignored in the debate over Newsom’s plan for CARE Court, …

Column: ‘No treatment until tragedy’ is our mental health system. CARE Court could change that
2 years, 5 months ago

Column: ‘No treatment until tragedy’ is our mental health system. CARE Court could change that

LA Times  

Brandi Michalik holds a photograph that includes her parents and son, Neven Butler, lower left. Gavin Newsom’s proposal for a civil system of courts to handle cases of severe mental illness — CARE Court, short for Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment — isn’t just a good idea but a moral obligation. California’s current arrangement for handling severe mental illness is …

California taxed millionaires to fix its mental health crisis. Why it’s fallen so short
2 years, 5 months ago

California taxed millionaires to fix its mental health crisis. Why it’s fallen so short

LA Times  

Nearly two decades ago, California voters passed a landmark tax on millionaires envisioned as a game changer for mental health. Then, in 2011, the state shifted nearly $900 million of Proposition 63 money to temporarily cover mental health programs typically paid for by the general fund and eased state oversight of counties’ spending. “Our workforce was decimated,” said Dr. Veronica …

CA governor’s mental health court plan advances amid worries
2 years, 6 months ago

CA governor’s mental health court plan advances amid worries

Associated Press  

SAN FRANCISCO — A controversial proposal by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to prod more homeless people into mental health treatment is making its way through the Legislature, despite deep misgivings from lawmakers struggling to address a problem that reaches every corner of the state. and see those failures every single day,” said Assemblymember Matt Haney, a Democrat who lives in …

CA’s governor wants mental health courts for homeless people
2 years, 9 months ago

CA’s governor wants mental health courts for homeless people

Associated Press  

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California’s governor unveiled a plan Thursday to create mental health courts in every county, allowing treatment for more homeless people with severe mental health and addiction disorders but also compelling some of them into care, a move that many advocates of homeless people oppose as a violation of civil rights. “There’s no compassion stepping over people in …

What we know about Newsom’s plan to compel care for homeless, mentally ill Californians
2 years, 9 months ago

What we know about Newsom’s plan to compel care for homeless, mentally ill Californians

LA Times  

A woman eats at her tent near L.A.’s Echo Park Lake on March 24, 2021. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he wanted to “wholeheartedly embrace” the CARE Court framework. This plan of care, this plan of housing and the court-ordered response, is a step.” Here is what we know so far about CARE Court, and what we don’t. CARE …

Michigan moves to fund mental health like physical health
3 years, 2 months ago

Michigan moves to fund mental health like physical health

Associated Press  

LANSING, Mich. — Starting this month, 13 mental health and addiction clinics across Michigan will receive the same Medicaid funding as any other health center in an effort U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow says will help bridge the stigmatic and funding divide between mental and physical health. The selected Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics, which meet high standards of care for …

Mental health clinics angle for a spot in Biden budget bill
3 years, 4 months ago

Mental health clinics angle for a spot in Biden budget bill

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — An innovative program to help people with mental health and substance abuse problems is being primed for a major expansion as the COVID-19 pandemic deepens struggles with drug use, depression and anxiety for many Americans. “I’m advocating that this be part of any health care package that moves in the Senate,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. She and …

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