Jocelyn Wiener

CalAIM seeks to improve the availability of mental health care for young people insured by Medi-Cal, but a year since its rollout, obstacles remain.

Will the state’s big Medi-Cal plan really fix mental health care for low-income Californians?

February 2, 2023 at 11:09 a.m.

A year into the rollout of CalAIM, payment details are murky and obstacles remain in finding help for Medi-Cal recipients with mental health needs.

(Illustration: Julie Hotz/for CalMatters)

No way out: Why a mentally disabled man was jailed nine years awaiting a murder trial that never happened

December 15, 2022 at 8:57 a.m.

Lorenzo Mays, who is intellectually disabled, spent years lost in a criminal justice system in California that too often fails people with developmental disabilities and mental illness.

Lawyers address a judge in Madera County Superior Court in Madera on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2021. (Photo: Larry Valenzuela/for CalMatters)

California lawmakers approved CARE Court. What comes next?

September 8, 2022 at 11:40 a.m.

Now that Gov. Gavin Newsom's court system for people with severe mental illness cleared the state Legislature, counties face a series of practical questions critical to turning the fuzzy concept...

Mental health care workers picket Dec. 16, 2019, outside Sacramento Medical Center in protest of long wait times for patients and overwhelming caseloads at Kaiser Permanente facilities. (Photo: Anne Wernikoff/for CalMatters)

Kaiser mental health workers signal open-ended strike in Northern California

August 3, 2022 at 9:52 a.m.

The union representing 2,000 Kaiser Northern California mental health works announced plans to strike, citing high workloads and long waits for patients.

Advocates are at odds over a bill that aims to crack down on licensing for California nursing homes. (Photo via iStock Photos/CALMatters)

Lawmakers weaken California nursing homes bill — sponsors yank their support

June 23, 2022 at 6:38 a.m.

After lawmakers scaled back a California nursing homes licensing bill, critics said it would let the worst operators thrive, but other advocates insisted it was still a step in the...

How a massive nursing home penalty eluded consumer detection

December 16, 2021 at 6:05 a.m.

A Fresno nursing home was fined more than $900,000 in 2018 for poor patient care, but consumers have been hard-pressed to find any public record of the massive penalty or...

Steven Taylor’s grandmother, Addie Kitchen comforts Cassandra Quinto-Collins, mother of Angelo Quinto, at a celebration of life held for Taylor on the one-year anniversary of his death, on April 18, 2021. Both Taylor and Quinto were killed by police during mental health crises. (Anne Wernikoff/CalMatters)

Call 988: How will California pay for the new crisis hotline?

September 2, 2021 at 10:22 a.m.

A bill that would help fund a 911 alternative appears stalled in the Legislature, with mental health advocates scrambling to find $50 million for the new crisis help line.

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