California Mental Health Services Act - Overview

Overview

The voter-approved MHSA initiative provides for developing, through an extensive stakeholder process, a comprehensive approach to providing community based mental health services and supports for California residents. Approximately 51,000 taxpayers in California will be helping to fund the MHSA through an estimated $750 million in tax revenue during fiscal year 2005-06.

The MHSA is an unprecedented piece of legislation in California for several reasons:

• Its funding source, quantity, and allocation dedicated to mental health services provide generously for mental health programs in a time of budget cuts to many other public programs
• It is consumer-directed and -oriented
• It focuses on developing preventive and innovative programs providing integrative wraparound services, such as with FSPs

To accomplish its objectives, the MHSA applies a specific portion of its funds to each of six system-building components:

• Community program planning and administration (10%)
• Community services and supports (45%)
• Capital (buildings) and information technology (IT) (10%)
• Education and training (human resources) (10%)
• Prevention and early intervention (20%)
• Innovation (5%)

Notably, none of the funds can substitute for existing fund allocation; all have to be put towards expansion or creation of programs, and 51% have to be spent on children's services.

The MHSA stipulates that the California State Department of Mental Health (DMH) will contract with county mental health departments to develop and manage the implementation of its provisions. Oversight responsibility for MHSA implementation was handed over to the sixteen member Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) on July 7, 2005, when the commission first met.

The MHSA specifies requirements for service delivery and supports for children, youths, adults and older adults with serious emotional disturbances and/or severe mental illnesses. MHSA funding will be made annually to counties to:

• Define serious mental illness among children, adults and seniors as a condition deserving priority attention, including prevention and early intervention services and medical and supportive care
• Reduce the long-term adverse impact on individuals, families and State and local budgets resulting from untreated serious mental illness
• Expand the kinds of successful, innovative service programs for children, adults and seniors already established in California, including culturally and linguistically competent approaches for underserved population
• Provide State and local funds to adequately meet the needs of all children and adults who can be identified and enrolled in programs under this measure
• Ensure all funds are expended in the most cost-effective manner and services are provided in accordance with recommended best practices, subject to local and State oversight to ensure accountability to taxpayers and to the public