SACRAMENTO – On Friday, California awarded $1.49 billion in grants focused on addressing the behavioral health crisis impacting every community across the state. These new grants will help people with mental health and substance use disorders get connected to housing on their path to treatment, provide care and housing for older adults, and increase capacity at mental health and substance use disorder facilities.
“California is committed to addressing the mental health crisis that communities all across our state are facing, and we’re doing it as comprehensively and inclusively as we can,” said Newsom. “These new investments are a key part of how California is transforming the approach to helping people – meeting people where they are – and connecting them with the services and housing they need, when they need them.”
Today’s announcement comes on the heels of the 2023 SNF Nostos Conference in Athens, Greece, where First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom delivered remarks alongside California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly highlighting California’s behavioral health investments and the state’s comprehensive approach to addressing behavioral health from prevention through recovery.
Grant program details:
- $907 million from the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) through its Behavioral Health Bridge Housing (BHBH) program to address the immediate housing and treatment needs of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness who also have serious behavioral health conditions.
- $430 million from the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) through its Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) to increase mental health and substance use disorder treatment facilities in 21 counties.
- $153 million from the Department of Social Services (DSS) through its new Community Care Expansion (CCE) program to 19 organizations across the state to create more residential care options for seniors and adults with disabilities, including Californians at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness.
According to CALMatters, in March, Newsom proposed to divert about $1 billion of the law’s funds to housing homeless individuals with severe mental illness. His office released more information this week about the changes, including details on money for services and clinical treatments, as well as eliminating funds for programs that support minority and LGBTQ+ communities.
The details did little to assuage the fears of children’s mental health advocates, who argue that Newsom’s proposal still fails to address their earlier concerns about cuts to youth services, LGBTQ+ programs, school-based suicide prevention programs, and mental health consultations.
- Lishaun Francis, senior director of behavioral health at Children Now: “We want to support our unhoused population, but we don’t want to do that at the expense of our youth.”
A reminder: The debate centers around a reallocation of revenue from the act, which levies a 1% tax on millionaires and is separate from the state’s general fund budget. If legislators go along, voters will decide next March whether to pass Newsom’s reforms, including a $4.7 billion bond measure to add treatment beds.
