A combination of three bills facing final votes before the California legislature adjourns on September 14 could rewrite homelessness and behavioral health policies as the state’s closely intertwined homeless and mental health epidemics reach new heights.
These bills would expand the classification of “gravely disabled” individuals who could be compelled into state-funded and state-mandated treatment and authorize a 2024 primary ballot vote for a $4.7 billion statewide bond for mental and behavioral health services, supportive housing and residential facilities, and mandate both allocating a portion of mental health services funding to behavioral health services such as drug addiction, and classifying building new housing for the mentally ill as mental health spending.