Governor Gavin Newsom gathered with civic leaders at Los Angeles General Medical Center on Thursday, Oct. 12 to celebrate the signing of two laws intended to transform the state’s approach to the twin crises of homelessness and mental health.
The first law, AB 531, seeks to create 11,150 mental health treatment beds and supportive housing units by placing Proposition 1, a $6.38 billion bond measure, on the March 2024 ballot for voters to decide. About $1 billion of that funding would be reserved for veterans.
The second law, SB 326, aims to modernize the Mental Health Services Act of 2004 by requiring that counties spend 30% of the act’s funding on housing.
The two bills strive to ensure all Californians can access high quality mental health resources, including direly needed residential treatment beds, as well as stable supportive homes in which to recover.
“Today marks a powerful and important milestone that we are moving beyond identifying issues, to a paradigm shift to begin the process of being accountable to solve them,” said Newsom.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has made fighting homelessness her cornerstone issue, praised the new laws for recognizing the interdependent nature of being without a home and suffering from mental illness.
“We all know that we cannot address the unhoused population if we don’t address mental health and substance abuse at the same time,” she said. “I would ask everybody here, how they might deal with their mental health and substance abuse vulnerability if they were living in a tent for a month or a week.”
Not everyone is pleased by the new laws. A coalition of mental health advocates and supporters have declared their opposition to Prop. 1.
The group, Californians Against Proposition 1, fears that diverting Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funding to housing will defund existing community mental health services and lead to competition over the remaining money.
“Financial support for a wide…
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