Los Angeles, Placer Counties Develop Proposition 63 Spending Plans
Los Angeles and Placer counties are working on spending plans for funds from Proposition 63, a November 2004 ballot measure that increased the state income tax by 1% for state residents whose annual incomes exceed $1 million to fund mental health services. Summaries of recent developments appear below.
Los Angeles County officials are nearing completion of a comprehensive three-year proposal to increase mental health services with an estimated $267 million from Proposition 63, the Los Angeles Times reports. The county expects to receive $89 million each of the next three fiscal years.
The county plans to use Proposition 63 funds to:
- Provide services -- such as therapy, medication, housing, job placement assistance and developing social support networks -- for 4,500 county children, juveniles and adults with severe mental illnesses;
- Develop three psychiatric urgent care facilities either at or near emergency departments at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance; and
- Hire advocates to help county Mental Health Department clients and their families obtain services.
In addition, the county will receive about $40 million a year for prevention and early intervention services through a separate installment of funds. A plan to spend that money will be developed next spring (Oldham, Los Angeles Times, 9/20).
County officials are expecting $2.2 million this year from Proposition 63 and will hold a meeting Thursday to discuss their proposals for use of the funds, the Sacramento Bee reports. The plan calls for county personnel to:
- Work with children ages 17 and younger with severe emotional disorders who are eligible for county mental health services but do not meet the state requirements for special education services;
- Provide services for youths entering adulthood who are at risk of hospitalization or incarceration or who may be leaving a residential program;
- Develop the "Whatever it Takes" team, a group of professionals intended to help people being discharged from hospitals, mental institutions and jails plan for mental health services;
- Create a multidisciplinary team to work with seniors; and
- Develop a system to increase access to mental health services for Latinos in the Lake Tahoe area.
In addition, the plan calls for the development of a mental health services site at local hospitals, where screenings, walk-in services and follow-up services can be provided to people hospitalized or for those leaving psychiatric units (Lofing, Sacramento Bee, 9/18). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.