BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    SCR 131


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          Date of Hearing:   April 28, 2016


                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES


                                    Gordon, Chair


          SCR  
                       131 (Beall) - As Introduced April 14, 2016


          SENATE VOTE:  39-0


          SUBJECT:  National Mental Health Awareness Month


          SUMMARY:  Recognizes May 2016 as National Mental Health  
          Awareness Month in California to enhance public awareness of  
          mental illness.  Specifically, this resolution makes the  
          following legislative findings: 


          1)Mental illness is one of the leading causes of disabilities in  
            the United States, affecting one out of every four families  
            and victimizing both the person with the illness and those  
            persons who care for and love the person afflicted. 


          2)57 million Americans have a mental disorder in any given year,  
            but fewer than 40 percent of adults living with a mental  
            illness, and slightly more than one-half of youth 8 to 15  
            years of age, inclusive, with a mental illness received mental  
            health services in the last year. 


          3)Although mental illness impacts all people, many of those in  
            lower-income communities receive less care, poorer quality of  
            care, and often lack access to culturally competent care,  
            thereby resulting in mental health disparities. 








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          4)Nearly two-thirds of all people with a diagnosable mental  
            illness do not receive mental health treatment due to stigma,  
            lack of community-based resources, inadequate diagnosis, or no  
            diagnosis. 



          5)Access to mental health treatment and services is of paramount  
            importance and there is a need to encourage primary care  
            physicians to offer screenings, to partner with mental health  
            care providers, to seek appropriate referrals to specialists,  
            and to encourage timely and accurate diagnoses of mental  
            disorders. 



          FISCAL EFFECT: None 


          


          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION: 


          


          Support


          California State Association of Counties (CSAC)


          Opposition
          None on file









                                                                    SCR 131


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          Analysis Prepared by:Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800