Policy Brief: Shifting the Paradigm for Mental Health Diversion: The Impact and Opportunity of AB 1810 and SB 215
The enactment of AB 1810 and SB 2151 (2018) creates the opportunity for a fundamental paradigm shift that could dramatically improve care and reduce homelessness for Californians who have a mental illness and are arrested and prosecuted in the criminal justice system. These new laws establish a process for diversion by placing them into mental health treatment programs in lieu of prosecution.
White Paper Submitted to the California Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council. Supporting the Prison and Jail Reentry Population – A Strategy for Reducing Unsheltered Homelessness in California
San Diego County’s 2018 WEALLCOUNT Report reported that 27% of those in jail, about 1,500 individuals, identified themselves as being unsheltered prior to their incarceration. Before their
arrest, most slept on the street or sidewalk (51%), a vehicle (24%), or in a park, tent, abandoned building, woods encampment.
Policy Brief: Co-Occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder (COD) Treatment Coordination Models
This policy brief focuses on the coordination of treatment of co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (CODs) for individuals returning to the community following incarceration. The gold standard for integrated services is when clients experience treatment as seamless, with a consistent clinical approach, philosophy, and set of interventions and recommendations from a joint clinical team. When this happens, the need to negotiate with separate clinical teams, programs, or systems disappears.
Policy Brief: Toward a Meaningful Dashboard for Behavioral Health Services – Key metrics, trends, and charts for California’s 10 largest counties. March 2019
In setting expenditure priorities for behavioral health services, county decision makers should consider establishing policy goals that are based on measurable indices. This policy brief provides an example of a data dashboard that may help inform the decision-making process by comparing objective measures and trends among similar counties. The metrics included in the dashboard are presented, not as the definitive indicators for measuring success in the behavioral health system, but rather a starting place for a discussion about what data is most valuable and available. In our example dashboard, behavioral health services for the Medi-Cal population and for foster care youth are arrayed by the ten most populous counties. Additionally, most of the metrics presented focus on mental health, and additional metrics on behavioral health should be added.
Policy Brief: Toward a Comprehensive Model of Integration for Justice-Involved Individuals Using Medi-Cal Managed Care Organizations (MCO)s
There is growing recognition of the unique health and behavioral health needs of justice involved individuals and the urgency of creating a more effective delivery system to provide those services. This policy brief describes a comprehensive model for integrating care for the justice-involved population.
Policy Brief – Medicaid Managed Care Plans and Reentry: A Review of How Other States Using Medicaid Plans to Improve the Reentry of Prison and Jail Inmates
When transitioning out of incarceration, some individuals face a “gap” in access to healthcare. Correctional facilities provide healthcare to incarcerated people, but there are serious challenges in providing care continuity as they return from custody into the community.
Logistical complications, compounded by other challenges of reentry, can delay and/or prevent individuals from connecting to health care providers. This is a problem with significant health, fiscal, and societal ramifications.
Policy Brief: A Collaborative Approach for Patients with Diabetes – Bringing Together Health Plans, Community Health Centers, and Optometrists
In 2010, diabetes was the 7th leading cause of death in the US with an estimated 25.8 million of the US population (8.3 percent) having diabetes, and of these, it is estimated that 7 million cases are undiagnosed.1 It is also estimated that another 79 million adults in the US have blood sugar levels in the “prediabetes” range, and are at risk of developing diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower limb amputations, and new cases of blindness among adults in the United States. Diabetes is a major cause of heart disease and stroke.
Comments Regarding Prison and Jail Reentry to the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) – Coordinated Care Assessment Project
CalHPS has managed the Reentry Health Project with support from the California Health Care Foundation. Our 2017 report focused on opportunities for improving care coordination and maximization of federal funds for medically fragile and seriously mentally ill reentry populations. Additional work and analysis have helped to further refine our recommendations.
Policy Brief: Unsheltered Homeless in California – Justice System Involvement and Mental Illness
It is often assumed that a significant segment of the unsheltered homeless population in California has been involved with the criminal justice system in some way and/or is mentally ill.
There are no statewide data to test these assumptions. This report estimates the number of unsheltered homeless individuals who have histories criminal justice system involvement and
who report that they have mental health issues or illness. We base these estimates on Point-in-Time homelessness survey results from the three largest counties — San Diego, Orange, and Los
Angeles — from 2017 and 2018.
Policy Brief: Adult Reentry Grant Program – Overview and Recommendations for Implementation of $50 million grant program administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC)
The 2018-19 State Budget Act includes a $50 million appropriation to establish a new Adult Reentry Grant (ARG). This program provides significant resources to support the reentry of state individuals being released from prison who need housing and assistance in transitioning back to the community.
This policy brief is intended to inform the discussion about the implementation of the ARG with the goal of maximizing the use of the funds to better serve the needs of the most vulnerable among the reentry population. First, we summarize the requirements of the program as set forth through budget bill language and discuss current plans and a timeline for implementation. Second, we review descriptive statistics pertinent to California’s prison reentry population with special focus on individuals who are Seriously Mentally Ill (SMI) and/or Medically Fragile (MF). These formerly incarcerated individuals are among the most costly and vulnerable who are eligible for services through the new grant program. Finally, we offer recommendations for consideration by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) Executive Steering Committee (ESC).