The Legislative, Regulations, and Funding Committee was formed to advocate and testify on legislation based on positions that are consistent with the CMHPC’s legislative platform and proposes legislation consistent with the mission and vision of the CMHPC. It participates in the development of regulations affecting mental health funding for programs and services. It also evaluates the Governor’s Budget proposal for impacts on mental health services, advocating or testifying as appropriate throughout the budget development.

The Cultural Competence Committee is committed to ensuring that cultural competence is embedded into the decision-making process of each CMHPC committee. The promotion of cultural awareness and the value of diversity will be incorporated into the operation of the CMHPC. As one step toward enhancing the cultural competence of presentations at CMHPC meetings, the Cultural Competence Committee developed a comprehensive set of guidelines and strategies for speakers for infusing principles, content, and themes related to cultural and linguistic competence into their presentations. The Cultural Competence Committee will also be reviewing the original recommendations on cultural competence that were developed by the CMHPC in the California Mental Health Master Plan: A Vision for California, to determine how to update them and implement them.

The Quality Improvement Committee has several on-going responsibilities that form the foundation of the committee’s work:

1. participating in the development of a quality improvement system for the public mental health system
2. providing oversight of the DMH and county mental health programs.

Developing a quality improvement system relates to a mandate in state law that the DMH develop performance outcome measures to assess whether mental health services improve the quality of clients’ lives and are cost effective. The CMHPC has developed an approach to system oversight and accountability and has proposed a comprehensive set of performance indicators that can be found in the California Mental Health Master Plan: A Vision for California.. The CMHPC also works closely with the DMH’s State Quality Improvement Council to devise strategies for quality improvement for the State’s mental health system.

One of the CMHPC’s other primary responsibilities is to work with county mental health boards and commissions to help them understand and interpret their data collected on performance indicators at the local level and to provide information that can be used for the CMHPC to develop statewide reports. The committee is developing a workbook that will provide county mental health boards and commissions with a uniform reporting format. This workbook will also provide specific performance indicators on which they can report with sufficient background information to help boards and commissions better understand and interpret the data within their local context.

The Quality Improvement Committee’s other current projects consist of monitoring the development of the implementation of the MHSA and providing input to the design of the performance measurement system. The CMHPC is mandated in the Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5772(c)(1) to review and approve performance measures. Consequently, it will have to approve the design of the performance measurement system developed for the MHSA.

The Policy and System Development Committee is focusing on a number of issues. One of those issues is the impact of recent budget cuts on county mental health departments’ ability to deliver core mental health services. The committee is monitoring how recently proposed changes to the Medicaid regulations will affect mental health services in California. Finally, the committee is monitoring the development of supported housing through a number of programs, including Proposition 46, Proposition 1C, and Proposition 63.

The Human Resources Committee is continuing its activities on the Human Resources Project, addressing the critical human resources needs of the mental health system in California. The Human Resources Project addresses the current shortage in the number of mental health professionals available to provide appropriate services in the public mental health system. The Planning Council has identified the shortage of human resources at all levels as one of the most urgent issues facing the mental health system

The System of Care Committee’s subcommittees each have projects on which they are working:

• The Children and Youth System of Care Subcommittee (CYSOC) will primarily focus on the benefits of juvenile justice mental health courts in meeting the needs of children and youth. The CYSOC will study the juvenile mental health court model, and prepare a final report that will raise awareness about juvenile mental health courts and will assist in advocating for the expansion of juvenile mental health courts throughout California. The CYSOC will also focus on what constitutes adequate continuum of care for youth, and ways to maintain those components when the emphasis is on keeping children in their homes and communities with the assistance of wraparound, the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit, and other programs. The Subcommittee will explore the closure of a number of Mental Health inpatient facilities for children and the loss of community-based inpatient services for many parts of the State.
• The Transition Age Youth Subcommittee, which has recently been created, has as its goal to educate its members more fully on the issues and concerns of transition age youth from the perspective of youth and to move toward inclusion of transition age youth in every facet of CMHPC activities. The subcommittee is also seeking to find a unique focus area that is not being addressed by other organizations where our committee can make a difference in improving the quality of life for these youth. The subcommittee is considering work on a number of issues, including hospitalization of transition age youth, incarceration of transition age youth and the potential of juvenile justice mental health courts to address this issue, outreach to under served youth, and the training needs of transition age youth for employment. The subcommittee is also going to be consulting on the revision of a resource guide being developed for working with transition age youth.
• The Adult System of Care Subcommittee (ASOC) is focusing on oversight of the state hospitals and the interface between corrections and community mental health. In its efforts to monitor State hospitals, the ASOC will quarterly review the findings of the recent United States Department of Justice audit pursuant to the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. The ASOC will also be identifying and promoting promising approaches to serving individuals in the community to prevent initial and repeated involvement with the criminal justice system.
• The Older Adult System of Care Subcommittee (OASOC) continues to advocate for increasing the level of services available to Older Adults with mental health needs in every California County. Utilizing data provided through the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) the OASOC will continue to seek increased service availability for all Older Adults living in California. The subcommittee is dedicating time and energy to study the collaborations between service providers in different counties. The OASOC believes that through collaboration, the level of services provided to Older Adults who need mental health services can be increased significantly and fragmentation of services can be reduced. With the number of older Californians projected to increase substantially over the next several years, the subcommittee believes it is imperative to increase services to this under represented group of citizens. The data the subcommittee examines will help identify those areas that need the most urgent attention. With this information the OASOC will be prepared to continue its advocacy for the Older Adults in California who need help and services.