Latest California Healthline Stories
Little Hoover Commission Issues Report on State’s Mental Health Services
California health officials need to focus on better monitoring and counties need to have standards to measure performance of the Mental Health Services Act, according to a new report from the Little Hoover Commission.
Draft Plan Emerges To Reduce Disparities in Mental Health Care
After four years of planning, the state’s Department of Public Health has released its strategic plan to address mental health care disparities experienced by Californians of various races, ethnicities and sexual orientations.
New Los Angeles Program Working To Divert Mentally Ill, Homeless From Jail
Replicating a model already delivering impressive results in other metropolitan areas, Los Angeles County has implemented an innovative, cost-cutting jail diversion and alternate sentencing program for the chronically homeless and seriously mentally ill.
UCLA Plans Behavioral Health Center
A new research center in Los Angeles plans to focus on bringing mental health research work to real-life programs and public policy — the urban version of a similar new facility at UC-Davis.
Data, Oversight Cited as Central Needs To Improve State’s Mental Health Services
Ten years after California voters passed Proposition 63 and created the Mental Health Services Act, the Little Hoover Commission is looking at how well that act is working and what still needs to be done to make it better.
How Jail Survey Affects Health Care
The expansion of the Medi-Cal program will be keenly felt by Californians in county jails or on probation, many of whom have not had access to coverage before. One researcher said the transitional time for inmates is a perfect opportunity to gain coverage.
Sonoma Center Appeals Decertification
Sonoma Developmental Center officials filed a formal appeal with the California Department of Public Health over the state agency’s decertification of the center’s intermediate care facilities.
From Promise to Reality: Substance Use Disorders and the ACA
Before the Affordable Care Act fully took effect, HHS boasted that the law would foster “one of the largest expansions of … substance use disorder coverage in a generation.” Will that coverage expansion translate into access to care or will barriers prevail?
Steps Forward Are a Decent Start for Mental Health Spending, Experts Say
California’s spending this year on some mental health programs brings it closer to funding levels set by the decade-old Mental Health Services Act. Still, lawmakers at a recent hearing voiced concern about heightened need for services in the state.
Appeals Court Reverses Lawsuit Ruling, Requires Mental Health Coverage
Insurers must provide a broad range of mental health coverage, according to a ruling from the state Court of Appeal that reversed a Superior Court decision.