Behavioral Health - California Health Care Foundation

Behavioral Health
The burden of untreated behavioral health conditions — encompassing mental health and substance use disorders — is both a major public health problem and a delivery system challenge. CHCF works to improve systems of behavioral health care and to focus on integrating mental health, substance use, and physical health services to achieve the best outcomes for Californians with low incomes.

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Bridging the Divide Between Mental Health Care and Addiction Treatment

September 21, 2021

Katherine Haynes

Behavioral Health

In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, a CHCF senior program officer shares the heartbreaking story of her son’s death from mental illness and substance use, the result of being caught between two siloed health care systems. Her desire to prevent future tragedies inspires her work promoting integrated care in California.

Sobering Centers Explained

Shannon Smith-Bernardin, Bonar Menninger

Behavioral Health

Sobering centers offer a cost-effective alternative for providing care to people with acute intoxication whose public alcohol or drug use puts themselves or others at risk. New interest in the decades-old approach has been sparked by recent CalAIM (California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal). Learn more about these programs through this high-level fact sheet.

Medi-Cal Behavioral Health Services: Demand Exceeds Supply Despite Expansions

Blue Sky Consulting Group

Behavioral Health, Medi-Cal

This paper is the second of two cross-site analyses drawn on insights from the seven publications in the 2020 Regional Market Report series. It explores factors contributing to behavioral health access issues, including workforce shortages and the complexity of the Medi-Cal system for behavioral health services. It also highlights efforts to improve and integrate services to Medi-Cal enrollees.

In Their Own Words: How Fragmented Care Harms People with Both Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorder

Susan Anthony, Rebecca Catterson, Suzanne Campanella

Behavioral Health, Homelessness & Health Care

CHCF commissioned interviews with 54 people enrolled in Medi-Cal who are dually diagnosed with mental illness and substance use disorder. The paper and accompanying videos highlight what is working — and not working — for them in the health care system.

Behavioral Health Quality Framework: A Roadmap for Using Measurement to Promote Joint Accountability and Whole-Person Care

Behavioral Health

There is a critical need for a clear framework to measure quality and outcomes in behavioral health care. The approach described in this paper provides a testable model for guiding these efforts.

Advancing Mental Health Equity in Medi-Cal

Behavioral Health, Medi-Cal, Health Equity

CHCF supports the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network in its work to advance equity in Medi-Cal mental health care through research, publications, and its Behavioral Health Equity Collaborative.

How CHCF Helped California Respond to the Opioid Epidemic

Behavioral Health, Medi-Cal

A complex body of work funded by CHCF is the subject of a new article in a peer-reviewed journal of philanthropy.

Delta Center California: Fostering Collaboration and Collective Action for Better Care

Behavioral Health

Delta Center California brings together behavioral health and primary care leaders across California to advance behavioral health integration. Local teams are invited to apply to a funded learning lab.

A Call for Meaningful Change

Behavioral Health, Telehealth, Health Equity, Workforce

'Listening to Californians with Low Incomes' report sounds alarm on deteriorating mental health.

Cracking the Codes: State Medicaid Approaches to Reimbursing Psychiatric Collaborative Care

Health Management Associates

Behavioral Health

This paper summarizes the approaches taken and lessons learned by the first 15 state Medicaid programs to reimburse for collaborative care, an evidence-based model of integrating behavioral health into primary care. An accompanying fact sheet outlines the benefit in Medi-Cal.

COVID-19 Tracking Poll, May 2021: Views from California Health Care Providers on the Front Lines

Goodwin Simon Strategic Research

Telehealth, Behavioral Health

This statewide survey of health care providers assesses their mental health and morale, the pandemic's financial impact on their practices, and providers' view of California's readiness for futures emergencies.

Coping with COVID-19: How Young People Use Digital Media to Manage Their Mental Health

Behavioral Health

As the COVID-19 pandemic has worn on, teens and young adults report growing levels of depression, stress, and anxiety. CHCF partnered with Common Sense and Hopelab to better understand how young people have used social media and digital health tools to take care of their mental health during the pandemic.

How Legal Changes in Response to COVID-19 Can Improve Access to Community Behavioral Health

Robert Belfort, Julian Polaris

Behavioral Health, Medi-Cal

This report discusses the impact of temporary legal reforms on outpatient and residential behavioral health services in California and identifies the most promising candidates for long-term reform.

Pandemic Highlights Vulnerability of California’s Latinx Community

February 3, 2021

Agustín Durán

Health Equity, Behavioral Health

While the pandemic has upended the lives, finances, and health of millions of Californians from all backgrounds, it has hit Latinx people the hardest.

Mental Health Disparities by Race and Ethnicity for Adults in Medi-Cal

California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

Behavioral Health, Medi-Cal, Health Equity

A 2017 California law requires robust tracking and evaluation measures for mental health services in Medi-Cal. This report demonstrates mental health access disparities for adults enrolled in Medi-Cal.