Audit Finds San Diego Appropriately Allocated Mental Health Funds From Millionaires’ Tax
The report, however, found that many agencies across the state were sitting on millions of unspent money. Counties are required to spend money from the Mental Health Services Act or return it to the state within three years of receiving it, but the audit found the state had not developed a process to recover the unspent funds.
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
State Audit: Counties Hoarding Money For Mental Health Programs
Counties throughout the state are holding onto millions of dollars intended for mental health services, a recently released state audit has found. The audit is forgiving of San Diego County, which was found to allocate funds appropriately and monitor projects effectively, although it also was sitting on about $185 million at the time of the study. The money comes from Proposition 63, a 2004 initiative known as the Mental Health Services Act, which placed a 1 percent income tax on state residents who earned $1 million or more annually. (Warth, 3/3)
In other mental health news —
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Mental Health Collaborative Tackles Fire-Related Trauma In Sonoma County
When a North Bay fire survivor walks into her private practice office, Santa Rosa psychologist Alisa Liguori Stratton never presumes to know exactly what they’re going through. Liguori Stratton, who lost the Fountaingrove home where she and her family lived, has a pretty good idea of the type of post-fire trauma many are suffering, whether they lost a home or not. But the experience — the 15 minutes she and her family had to flee their home, the loss of everything they own — is not a type of cheat sheet that informs her practice. (Espinoza, 3/4)