MHSA reforms update

MHSA addresses a broad continuum of prevention, early intervention, and service needs and the necessary infrastructure, technology, and training elements.

Following weeks of negotiations and intense pressure from advocates, SB-326 - The Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) was amended on August 16th to protect critical funding for our kids. Prior to the amendments, The L.A. Trust and 11 member organizations of the School Health Policy Roundtable submitted a letter of concern that elevated the detrimental impact that a reduction of prevention funding for children and youth would have on our schools and communities. The letter was among the hundreds that the legislature received in response to the proposed reforms.

A win for children and youth

The amendments include a 51% set-aside for children and youth ages 0-25 within the prevention and early intervention funding categories, respectively, resulting in 11% of total Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) revenue going to kids. This is vital to prioritizing Children and Youth in mental health services and ensures that they will not be left behind in the reforms.

As amended, SB 326 would allocate 4% of BHSA funds to population-based prevention. This is an improvement from the first iteration of the bill, but it is still unclear whether current funding levels for youth prevention would be maintained or enhanced, as our letter of concern urges. This is critical to ensuring that we can build protective factors among our kids and that prevention remains a linchpin to California’s approach to addressing the mental health epidemic.

We want to thank all our partners who have joined us in our advocacy efforts and the entire LA Trust community for your ongoing support and interest.

What’s next?

The LA Trust for Children’s Health Policy Team will continue to monitor this bill as we approach the deadline to pass bills and support any opportunity to center youth services and increase funding. Additionally, we actively engage with our partners and collaborate within our MHSA Workgroup within the School Health Policy Roundtable.


Feel free to send questions/comments to Gabby Tilley at g.tilley@thelatrust.org.  
From the Policy Desk of Gabby Tilley and Chris Anthony