For several years CIBHS has been working with the Los Angeles
Department of Mental Health to design a system for the routine
monitoring of CalWORKs Mental Health outcomes. This study
evaluates the implementation of the monitoring system between
October 2014 and February 2016. It also uses data from the
monitoring effort to profile employment and psychiatric outcomes
on a quarterly basis. Finally, it presents four policy issues
that the monitoring data permits DMH to address.
This report, prepared for the Los Angeles County Mental Health
Department, uses several data sources to profile 54 LA CalWORKs
mental health programs. The report sets the context of 15 years
of welfare reform and then discusses hurdles to employment
experienced by CalWORKs mental health participants. Outcomes of
services are shown for Engagement and Disaffiliation, Employment,
Mental Health, and personal strengths.
In February 2014, with funding from the Mental Health Services
Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC), CIBHS began a
series of activities toward collecting information about CIT best
practices and practice gaps in California, including a survey of
California counties throughout the state. The report below is a
summary of the findings from these activities.
CIBHS was commissioned by the California Healthcare Foundation
(CHCF) to prepare a data almanac on mental health as part of
their ongoing series of data references on a range of healthcare
topics.
CIBHS’s former Deputy Director, Neal Adams, MD, MPH, worked
closely with Wendy Holt from DMA Health Strategies
(www.dmahealth.com) to gather and analyze the data included in
the report.The almanac, titled Mental Health Care in California:
Painting a Picture, was published in July of 2013.
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)
partnered with the California Institute for Mental Health (CiMH)
and the Alcohol and Drug Policy Institute (ADPI), now merged as
the California Institute for Behavioral Health Solutions
(CIBHS), to obtain stakeholder input for addressing mental
health and substance use disorder services. CiMH and ADPI
completed the process to engage stakeholders and provided the
attached report titled “Stakeholder Recommendations for Mental
Health and Substance Use Disorder Services.” (Note: We
have previously referred to this end product as a “business
plan”.)
This clients and family member issue paper was developed by the
Client/Family Member Sub-Committee of CalMEND through the
support of CIBHS. CalMEND was a program of the California
Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) in partnership
with the former California Department of Mental Health with
funding support provided through the Mental Health Services
Act. CIBHS supported the Client and Family Member
Sub-committee and other core CalMEND project initiatives
through a contract with DHCS.
The Integration Policy Initiative (IPI) builds on the significant
work already underway in California, incorporating models
developed in California and nationally that are intended to
improve general healthcare, primary care, the integration of
mental health (MH) and substance use (SU) services with primary
care and the integration of primary healthcare with MH and SU
services. There are tensions among these systems in California,
as there are in other parts of the country— the legacy of many
years of working in silos as well as a chronic lack of funding.
Prepared by Neal Adams, MD, MPH and supported by a grant from
the California HealthCare Foundation, these clinical guidelines
were developed to address a common and growing problem in
contemporary health care practice: how can people’s coexisting
general health and mental health care needs be best addressed
with optimal efficiency and effectiveness.
