Agenda

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FAMILY AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

Meeting Date:	06/22/2020
Subject: CONSIDER receiving a report on Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funding
Submitted For:	David Twa
Department:	County Administrator
Referral No.:	117
Referral Name:	Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funding
Presenter:	Suzanne Tavano & Jennifer Bruggeman	Contact:

Information

Referral History:

A recent state audit appears to indicate that California counties are not spending money from a special tax on millionaires that should be spent on mental health programs. The audit found that county mental health programs had not spent $231 million from the tax that should have been returned to the state by the end of the 2015-16 budget year. Approved by California voters in November 2004, Proposition 63 imposes a 1% tax on incomes in excess of $1 million and directs those collections to the provision of mental health services. The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) has expanded mental health care programs for children, transition age youth, adults, and older adults. Services are client and family driven and include culturally and linguistically appropriate approaches to address the needs of underserved populations. They must include prevention and early intervention as well as innovative approaches to increasing access, improving outcomes and promoting integrated service delivery. The MHSA added Section 5891 to the Welfare & Institutions Code, which reads in part, “The funding established pursuant to this Act shall be utilized to expand mental health services. These funds shall not be used to supplant existing state or county funds utilized to provide mental health services”. The first yearly MHSA Program and Expenditure Plan for Community Services and Supports was approved by the Board of Supervisors and submitted to the State Department of Mental Health on December 22, 2005. The Prevention and Early Intervention component was added in 2009, and the remaining components of Innovation, Workforce Education and Training, and Capital Facilities/Information Technology were added in FY 2010-11. Each subsequent year an annual update was approved, which included program refinements, program changes when indicated, and the development of new programs identified by a local stakeholder-driven community program planning process. Contra Costa integrated the five components into the MHSA Three Year Program and Expenditure Plan for FYs 2014-17, and provided an annual plan update in FY 2015-16 and 2016-17.

The MHSA Three Year Program and Expenditure Plan for FYs 2017-20 was approved and published in June 2017.

On March 20, 2018, the Board referred to the Family and Human Services Committee the issue of MHSA / Proposition 63 funding and this became Referral No. 117 to this Committee.

Referral Update:

Attached is a status report from the Health Services Department Behavioral Health Division on the MHSA Planning process and funding.

Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):

ACCEPT a report on the status of the Mental Health Services Act Plan and funding from the Health Services Department Behavioral Health Division. (Jennifer Bruggeman, Mental Health Services Act Program Manager)

Fiscal Impact (if any):

The MHSA expenditure plan has already been approved by the Board of Supervisors, therefore, there is no fiscal impact. In June of 2017, an average yearly budget ($51.3 million) in the MHSA Three Year Program and Expenditure Plan for FY 2017-20 was approved by the Board. This budget exceeded anticipated revenues ($45.3 million annually) by an average of $6 million per year. In partnership with stakeholders the County has already embarked on a Three Year Plan to spend down the County’s MHSA reserves to approximately $25 million by July 2020.

Attachments
Status Report for the MHSA Plan and Funding