When California launched CalAIM (California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal) in 2022, CHCF recognized the importance of understanding how this transformative initiative was affecting the people it was designed to serve. To capture these real-world experiences, CHCF partnered with EVITARUS, a Los Angeles-based research firm, to conduct an extensive study called Listening to Californians with Complex Needs.
This comprehensive research project, conducted in 2023 and 2024, included in-depth interviews with 99 Californians with complex health needs and eight focus groups with their caregivers. The study spanned four diverse counties — Alameda, Fresno, Humboldt, and Los Angeles — ensuring voices from urban, rural, and suburban communities were heard.
The full report captures these diverse perspectives, while this series of fact sheets highlights findings specific to participants living with specific conditions or facing unique circumstances.
Read the Full Report
In Their Own Words:
What Californians with Multiple Health and Social Needs Say About Their Care
Learn about the first-hand experiences of Californians with complex health and social needs as they seek care. Their insights reveal both the promise of CalAIM’s vision and how implementation can be improved.
Review the Fact Sheets
Focus On: Behavioral Health Conditions
This fact sheet centers the perspectives of Californians living with mental health conditions, substance use
disorder, or both.
Focus On: Homelessness
This fact sheet centers the perspectives of
Californians experiencing homelessness or housing
insecurity — one of the groups the CalAIM pro-
gram was designed to serve.
