Report: Counties, State Still Failing To Properly Track Mental Health Spending
There is $2 billion a year in mental health spending at stake, and yet there's no clear way to demonstrate the positive effects that may come from it.
The Associated Press:
Report: Officials Still Not Tracking State's Mental Health Spending
California officials still haven't taken steps to better track how $2 billion a year in voter-approved funding for mental health programs is spent, despite a critical audit 19 months ago that alerted officials to the problems, according to a report released Thursday by a state watchdog. (Williams, 9/8)
In other mental health news —
Los Angeles Times:
Rising Homelessness And Lack Of Psychiatric Care Beds Are Cited In Surge Of Mental Competency Cases
A lack of psychiatric care beds and rising homelessness are fueling a dramatic increase in mental competency cases in Los Angeles County, a new study has found. The county launched a review after The Times reported on a surge in the number of competency cases in Los Angeles’ mental health court over the last five years. The number of cases referred to the mental health court’s Department 95 to determine defendants' competency had swelled from 944 in 2010 to 3,528 in 2015. (Sewell, 9/8)