A bond measure to remodel California’s behavioral well being system just lately handed by a slim margin. Gov. Gavin Newsom and different supporters of the measure say that Proposition 1 evolves the Psychological Well being Companies Act (MHSA) into the Behavioral Well being Service Act (BHSA) and will increase funding for housing interventions and workforce investments, persevering with native flexibility to make use of sources to deal with native wants, and strengthening county oversight and monetary accountability.
The margin of victory for the measure ended up being so shut that it took the Related Press 15 days after election day to find out that the measure had handed.
As a California Well being Care Basis weblog explains, the proposition features a almost $6.4 billion bond to construct 10,000 therapy items and supportive housing. It additionally requested voters to redefine how counties spend cash collected from a particular “millionaire’s tax” to allocate a share of it for housing for folks with behavioral well being sicknesses.
“That is the most important reform of the California psychological well being system in many years and can lastly equip companions to ship the outcomes all Californians want and deserve,” stated Newsom in a press release. “Remedy facilities will prioritize psychological well being and substance use assist locally like by no means earlier than. Now, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and start implementing this vital reform – working intently with metropolis and county leaders to make sure we see outcomes.”
Newsom and supporters have promoted Proposition 1 as a manner to assist handle the state’s homelessness and dependancy crises, the CHCF weblog famous, including that opponents of the poll measure say diverting cash within the Psychological Well being Companies Act for housing will lead to as much as $1 billion in cuts to present psychological well being applications comparable to outpatient care and disaster response.
In a information launch the California Division of Well being Care Companies stated the behavioral well being transformation will assist enhance accountability, enhance transparency, and broaden the capability of behavioral well being care amenities throughout California.
“This can be a historic second for Californians and our behavioral well being care system,” stated DHCS Director Michelle Baass, in a press release. “The state is taking steps to make sure everybody has equitable entry to the care they want, no matter their background or location. This work brings higher transparency to behavioral well being care, permitting Californians to see how their state and native governments are working to make sure folks can thrive of their communities.”
“Housing is essentially the most fundamental basis each human being wants to realize and keep stability in life,” stated California Division of Housing and Group Growth Director Gustavo Velasquez, in a press release. “That is very true for folks with psychological well being challenges who want common, constant entry to well being care suppliers or counselors. The passage of Proposition 1 will enable California to broaden on the successes achieved by applications like Homekey that give our most weak residents that basis, immediately related to the vital supportive providers that may assist us make homelessness uncommon, short-lived, and non-recurring.”
DHCS will now start creating coverage and steering to assist counties in fulfilling the statutory necessities within the initiative. Steering will probably be launched in phases to permit counties enough time to leverage the coverage for native administration. DHCS goals to convey behavioral well being funding streams into alignment and break down silos to enhance the supply of providers to Californians who want this life-saving behavioral well being care. There will probably be alternatives for stakeholder engagement all through the coverage growth course of to information the simplest use of this very important funding.
The Behavioral Well being Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) would be the program to distribute the roughly $4 billion in bond funds for which DHCS is accountable.
DHCS notes that these applications and proposals complement California’s different main behavioral well being initiatives, together with the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, California Behavioral Well being Group-Based mostly Organized Networks of Equitable Care and Remedy (BH-CONNECT) Demonstration proposal, Youngsters and Youth Behavioral Well being Initiative (CYBHI), Medi-Cal Cell Disaster and 988 enlargement, and Behavioral Well being Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP).
