California voters likely will see a mental health ballot measure on the March 2024 election. One would issue a $6 billion bond to create housing for people with mental illnesses.
The countywide benefit was created in response to a 2022 proposal calling for the formation of a program to support employees at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center who had been on the frontlines of the Covid pandemic.
On Sunday, many of the 997 bills that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last year — out of the nearly 1,200 state lawmakers sent to his desk — went into effect.
The union representing 2,000 Kaiser Northern California mental health works announced plans for an open-ended strike this month, citing high workloads and long waits for patients.
The new federal number is billed as an alternative to 911 for people experiencing mental health emergencies. A bill would allow California to fund call centers with new fees on phone lines.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins approved a settlement of a federal lawsuit, Babu vs. Alameda County, that aimed to improve the "horrific" treatment of inmates with mental health disabilities.
In calling for a better coordinated effort to respond to a crisis in mental health services, supervisors voted unanimously to ask county staff to begin 'systemwide planning' to address mental health issues and shortages in the mental health care workforce.
The Legislature's super-majority of Democrats sent Gov. Gavin Newsom hundreds of bills that he signed into law, including several with major consequences for Californians.
The coalition of students, parents and teachers wants San Jose schools to move toward mental health counseling and less-punitive responses for troubled students.
We may be on the path toward normalizing the subject, but even as we have transitioned to remote schooling it is hard to ignore when students display signs of distress, anxiety and depression.