BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2017
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Date of Hearing: April 19, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 2017
(McCarty) - As Amended April 7, 2016
[Note: This bill was heard in the Assembly Health Committee on
April 5, 2016, and approved by a vote of 16-0.]
SUBJECT: College Mental Health Services Program
SUMMARY: Establishes the College Mental Health Services Program
(CMHS Program) Act, which creates a grant program (CMHS Program
Grant) for California Community Colleges (CCC), the California
State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC) to
improve access to mental health services and early
identification or intervention programs. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Finds and declares all of the following:
a) The provisions of this bill are consistent with and
further the purposes of the Mental Health Services Act
(MHSA);
b) Students, faculty, health practitioners, and college
administrators are reporting increased rates of mental
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health needs by students attending public colleges in
California;
c) One in four students has a diagnosable mental illness
and 40 percent of students do not seek mental health when
they need it;
d) Eight out of 10 people who experience psychosis have
their first episode between 15 and 30 years of age;
e) The demand for mental health services by public college
students far outpaces the ability of colleges to provide
them. California public college campuses and higher
education systems do not meet national staffing standards
for psychiatric services and other mental health
professionals;
f) The lack of services directly impacts college students'
success and academic performance as well as their ability
to develop socially as productive members of society;
g) The effects of untreated mental health needs are long
lasting and can include college students dropping out of
school, experiencing homelessness, and dying of suicide;
h) One in 10 college students has considered suicide and
suicide is the second leading cause of death among college
students, claiming more than 1,100 lives every year
nationally; and,
i) Research shows that for each dollar invested in student
prevention and early intervention mental health services,
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California will see a return of at least $6 and up to $11
as a result of more students graduating.
2)Establishes in the State Treasury the CMHS Trust Account with
moneys continuously appropriated to the State Department of
Health Care Services to fund the CMHS Grant Program and
transfers $40,000,000 from the MHSF into the CMHS Trust
Account annually.
3)Requires the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), in
consultation with the California Mental Health Services
Authority (CalMHSA), to create a grant program for CCC, CSU
and UC to improve access to mental health services and early
identification or intervention programs. DHCS and CalMHSA are
required to establish guidelines for grant funding that
include:
a) The ability of the program to fund the matching
component, as required;
b) The ability of the campus, in partnership with the local
county, to establish direct linkages for students to
community-based mental health services for which the
students' health coverage makes them eligible, ensuring
provider reimbursement;
c) The ability to participate in evidence-based and
community defined best practice programs for mental health
services improvements;
d) The ability of the campus to serve underserved and
vulnerable populations, including, but not limited to,
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and
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allied persons, victims of domestic violence and sexual
abuse, and veterans;
e) The ability of the campus to reduce racial disparities
in access to mental health services;
f) The ability of the campus to fund mental health stigma
reduction activities; and,
g) The ability of the campus to provide employees and
students with education and training on early
identification, intervention, and referral of students with
mental health needs.
4)Provides that grants may be awarded to a CCC district, the CSU
or the UC and that the scale of the program shall determine
the amount awarded, but in no case shall the department award
more than $5,000,000 per campus, per application.
5)Provides that grants shall only be awarded to a campus that
can show a dollar-for-dollar match of funds from the campus.
6)Provides that administrative costs for any program shall be
limited to 5%.
7)Prohibits funds from supplanting existing state or county
funds utilized to provide mental health services.
8)Allows DHCS and CalMHSA to provide technical assistance to
smaller colleges and counties in the application process to
ensure equitable distribution of the grant award.
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9)Requires CCC, CSU and UC campuses that have been awarded grant
funds to report annually to their respective CCC Chancellor,
CSU Chancellor, and UC Office of the President on the uses of
grant funds, as specified. Requires reports to be submitted
to DHCS and CalMHSA and the Legislature.
10)Sunsets the provisions of this bill on January 1, 2022.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Establishes the MHSA, enacted by voters in 2004 by Proposition
63, to provide funds to counties to expand services, develop
innovative programs, and integrated service plans for mentally
ill children, adults, and seniors through a 1% income tax on
personal income above $1 million.
2)Establishes the Mental Health Oversight and Accountability
Commission (Commission) to oversee the implementation of MHSA,
made up of 16 members appointed by the Governor, unless
otherwise specified.
3)Specifies that the MHSA can only be amended by a two-thirds
vote of both houses of the Legislature and only as long as the
amendment is consistent with and furthers the intent of the
MHSA. Permits provisions clarifying the procedures and terms
of the MHSA to be added by majority vote.
4)Requires DHCS to develop and implement mental health plans for
Medi-Cal beneficiaries.
5)Requires mental health plans, whether administered by public
or private entities, to be governed by specified guidelines,
including the provision of culturally competent and
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age-appropriate services, to the extent feasible.
6)Requires a mental health plan to assess the cultural
competency needs of the program and to include a process to
accommodate the significant needs with reasonable timeliness.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: Purpose of this bill. According to the author, there
are tremendous mental health needs that Californians face
related to access, care, and homelessness. However, an often
forgotten part of this discussion is our college-age students.
Unfortunately, many of our public colleges do not have mental
health services for their students on campus, particularly
community colleges. Due to a lack of access to care,
college-aged students often do not seek mental health services
when they need them. The stigma around mental health is
something that can be improved if we increase access to mental
health services for students. The author argues that if
students have the resources they need the more likely they will
seek help.
MHSA. Proposition 63 was passed by voters in November 2004 and
created the MHSA, which imposes a one percent income tax on
personal income in excess of $1 million and creates the 16
member Commission charged with overseeing the implementation.
MHSA addresses prevention, early intervention, and service
needs, as well as provided funding for infrastructure,
technology, and training needs for the community mental health
system. MHSA requires each county mental health department to
prepare and submit a three-year plan to DHCS that must be
updated each year and approved by DHCS after review and comment
by the Commission. In their three-year plans, counties are
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required to include a list of all programs for which MHSA
funding is being requested, that identify how the funds will be
spent, and which populations will be served. Counties must
submit their plans for approval to the Commission before the
counties may spend certain categories of funding.
MHSA funding for education programs. In June 2007, the
Commission voted to approve $60 million in statewide initiative
funds in response to the mass shooting that occurred on the
campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. This Student Mental
Health Initiative (SMHI) allocated $34 million to higher
education institutions and $26 million for K-12 programs for a
period of four years. The higher education programs focused on
three key strategic directions: training; peer support
activities; and, suicide prevention. Any college, district,
multi-campus collaborative, or system within one of the three
California public higher education systems was eligible and
program applications were based on demonstrated need that
emphasized culturally relevant and appropriate approaches.
CalMHSA. The CalMHSA was established by California counties in
June 2009 as a Joint Powers Authority responsible for funding
and implementing mental health services programs and projects.
CalMHSA is headed by a separate Board of Member Counties and an
Executive Committee comprised of officers and Statewide Regional
Representatives. Among other responsibilities, CalMHSA is
responsible for implementation and oversight of the SMHI.
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CSU, UC and CCC SMHI projects. Under the SMHI, the systemwide
offices of the CSU and UC were each awarded approximately $7
million by CalMHSA for a 3-year grant (which ended in December
2015) to provide, primarily, outreach and education activities.
In October 2011, the CCC Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) was awarded
$7 million by CalMHSA to establish the CCC SMHI, a partnership
between the CCCCO and the Foundation for Community Colleges. In
June of 2015, the program was awarded $1.4 million ($700,000 per
year) to support phase 2 of the program; implementation began on
October 1, 2015 and will conclude on June 30, 2017.
Suggested amendments and clarifications.
1)Clarification is needed to specify that applications are
submitted by and grant funds are provided to the campus of the
CSU and/or UC (rather than to the system office).
Additionally, the author and committee may wish to consider
whether the bill should authorize multiple campuses (and
districts and segments) located in the same region to
collaborate on an application and grant program.
2)As previously noted, prior MHSA funding was primarily used to
support outreach and education activities within the higher
education segments. Committee staff understands that that the
author intends for funding provided pursuant to this bill to
be used to support both direct services (decreasing wait times
and increasing provider-to-student ratios, etc.) as well as
additional outreach, as needed. This intent could be further
clarified in the bill.
3)As currently drafted, grant recipients must provide matching
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funds for the program. Committee staff understands the
author's intent is to allow the matching component to include
public or private funding, or in kind donations such as
facilities or staffing resources.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Federation of Teachers
California State Student Association
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
National Association of Social Workers
North Orange County Community College District
University of California Student Association
Opposition
None on File
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Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960