New mental health funds available through counties

County health departments are planning now how to use more than $2 billion in Mental Health Services Act funds over the next three years, and school districts and county offices of education can get in on the action—but they must act now, according to CSBA Student Wellness Consultant Jean Schultz.
“We want schools to be at the table when plans for this money are being made,” Schultz said. “This money will only be available to districts and county offices that have a representative participate in the planning process led by county departments of mental health.”

Local education agencies can seek funding to establish new preventive and early intervention programs to address students’ mental health needs, or for money to shore up and expand existing services, Schultz said. The money will come from Proposition 63, approved by the voters in 2004 to completely overhaul the state’s mental health care system.

Children and youth are among the groups specifically targeted for services in the measure. The law also puts a priority on services to underserved cultural populations, children from struggling families, children exposed to trauma and children at risk for school failure or of getting swept up in the juvenile justice system. The program puts a heavy emphasis on prevention and early intervention—a welcome change, Schultz said, in a system accustomed to treating mental health problems only when they become acute.

MHSA directs counties to allocate the new mental health funds consistently with the counties’ mental health plans, which county mental health departments are now in the process of updating. During this process, the departments are required to consult representatives from school districts and county offices of education along with a range of other groups that work on children’s issues.

Schultz urged school representatives to contact their county health departments to identify the MHSA liaison they need to work with in the county planning process. She urged those who represent districts and COEs to come to those meetings prepared. Among other things, school representatives should be familiar with preventive mental health services already in place in their own agencies and should familiarize themselves with the MHSA guidelines and funding priorities.

Related link:
The state Department of Mental Health has more background on MHSA @ www.dmh.ca.gov/Prop_63