Proposition 1 on California’s March ballot proposes a $6.38 billion bond aimed at addressing homelessness and the mental health crisis. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s $6.4 billion ballot measure to add thousands of mental health beds for the homeless and other vulnerable populations led by several percentage points in early voting Tuesday night. Voters’ appetite for new strategies to fight is being tested. They see the crisis worsening across the state.
Dan Schnur, a political science professor at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley, said Proposition 1’s decisive victory shows voters are “so eager to solve this problem that they’re willing to do whatever it takes to get it resolved.” Said to mean that. It added that if the measures were insufficient, “it would signal a loss of support for the government’s ability to address these challenges.”
A final tally of votes is not expected for at least another few days, as mail-in votes still need to be counted.
Proposition 1, which requires a simple majority to pass, would create an estimated 6,800 treatment beds for people struggling with mental health and addictions and about 4,350 supportive housing units for the homeless, including about 2,350 units. It would authorize states to issue bonds to provide funding. Except when it comes to homeless veterans.
The two-part measure would also use funding already in the mental health system to expand intensive treatment programs and build supportive housing, potentially leaving less money available for early intervention and other services. be.
We could accomplish both without raising taxes. If passed, the bill would be fully phased in over several years.
Proponents of Proposition 1 acknowledge that it would only help a fraction of California’s estimated 181,000 unhoused residents. But they argue that the measure primarily targets the mentally ill homeless voters with the highest needs, who are most likely to be seen wandering into roadways or yelling at everyone. are doing.
Disability rights activists and some local officials have expressed concerns about the possibility of further involuntary detention and changes to mental health funding, but Prop. With broad support from lawmakers, Prop. 1 sent the measure to voters amid mounting public pressure for legal rights. Address homelessness.
They describe Proposition 1 as the linchpin of an ongoing overhaul of the state’s mental health system aimed at forcing more homeless people with severe mental illnesses into treatment.
“We’ve created more flexibility, more tools, more accountability, more resources,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said last month. “We need more beds now.”
Funds from this measure will help local counties build treatment centers that range from long-term residential care facilities for people in more stable conditions to closed-door clinics for people in crisis. It will help you build or expand. The new homeless housing project will have on-site services that connect residents with mental health care and drug counseling.
While the additional mental health beds are not specifically for homeless people, the overarching goal is to help those with the most severe disabilities and disabilities who often end up on the streets. .
A University of California, San Francisco survey of homeless people in the state last year found that more than two-thirds reported experiencing mental health symptoms. Still, experts say severe symptoms make up a minority of the unhoused population, and states need to continue investing in housing if they want to end homelessness.
Proposition 1 would also require counties to spend 30% of the cash they receive from the voter-approved Mental Health Services Act (a state tax on millionaires) on rental assistance and supportive housing construction, including for the homeless. Thing. Mental health taxes collect approximately $3 billion each year.
Additionally, counties would be required to spend 35% of these funds on those with the most severe needs. For some counties, this could mean shifting funding from existing programs to help people with milder symptoms, rather than forcing some officials to cut programs or staff. I’m worried about that. The measure would direct approximately $140 million annually from counties to strengthen the state’s mental health programs.
In Santa Clara County, some officials are concerned that the county’s efforts to prevent homelessness will be hampered if funding is cut for programs that treat residents’ mental health problems before they become serious. ing. County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Susan Ellenberg said the change would require the county to give up $9 million to support state-run programs.
Proponents of Proposition 1 say passage of the bill is critical to phase in two recent statewide reforms aimed at getting more homeless people off the streets and into treatment. claims to be important.
The first is CARE Court, a new program that allows medical professionals, families and others to petition a judge to order some vulnerable homeless people into mental health programs. CARE Court is currently operating in eight pilot counties, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Francisco, and is expected to expand across the state by the end of the year.
The second is a state law enacted earlier this year that changes the conservatorship system to force more homeless people into involuntary care who cannot meet their basic needs. Most counties are still in the process of adopting the new rules.
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