Human Resources, Education, And Training Programs - Community Mental Health Services - CA Welfare And Institutions

Section § 5820

This law aims to create a program with dedicated funding to address the shortage of qualified mental health service providers. Each county's mental health program must assess their needs for professional staff and report these to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. This information will help create a statewide plan to increase the workforce in mental health services.

The Office will use these assessments to develop a five-year education and training plan, which is updated every five years, to ensure enough appropriately trained individuals are available to meet future mental health service demands in California. The California Behavioral Health Planning Council reviews and approves these plans.

(a) It is the intent of this part to establish a program with dedicated funding to remedy the shortage of qualified individuals to provide services to address severe mental illnesses.

(b) Each county mental health program shall submit to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development a needs assessment identifying its shortages in each professional and other occupational category in order to increase the supply of professional staff and other staff that county mental health programs anticipate they will require in order to provide the increase in services projected to serve additional individuals and families pursuant to Part 3 (commencing with Section 5800), Part 3.2 (commencing with Section 5830), Part 3.6 (commencing with Section 5840), and Part 4 (commencing with Section 5850) of this division. For purposes of this part, employment in California’s public mental health system includes employment in private organizations providing publicly funded mental health services.

(c) The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, in coordination with the California Behavioral Health Planning Council, shall identify the total statewide needs for each professional and other occupational category utilizing county needs assessment information and develop a five-year education and training development plan.

(d) Development of the first five-year plan shall commence upon enactment of the initiative. Subsequent plans shall be adopted every five years, with the next five-year plan due as of April 1, 2014.

(e) Each five-year plan shall be reviewed and approved by the California Behavioral Health Planning Council.

mental health workforce shortage of providers county assessment statewide plan five-year education plan training development public mental health system California Behavioral Health Planning Council professional staff needs service provision increase qualified individuals publicly funded mental health services county mental health programs occupational category needs Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development

(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 511, Sec. 17. (AB 1688) Effective January 1, 2018. Note: This section was added on Nov. 2, 2004, by initiative Prop. 63.)

Section § 5821

The law requires the California Behavioral Health Planning Council to advise on education and training policies and oversee the development of these plans.

It also mandates that the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development collaborates with other state bodies to ensure that the council has enough staff to meet its responsibilities effectively.

(a) The California Behavioral Health Planning Council shall advise the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development on education and training policy development and provide oversight for education and training plan development.

(b) The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development shall work with the California Behavioral Health Planning Council and the State Department of Health Care Services so that council staff is increased appropriately to fulfill its duties required by Sections 5820 and 5821.

Behavioral Health Advisory Education and Training Policy Oversight of Training Plans Staff Increase State Department of Health Care Services Collaboration with Health Planning Council Statewide Health Planning Health Training Development Behavioral Health Planning California Health Policy Mental Health Staff Support Health Workforce Development Strategic Health Planning Healthcare Education Training Oversight

(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 511, Sec. 18. (AB 1688) Effective January 1, 2018. Note: This section was added on Nov. 2, 2004, by initiative Prop. 63.)

Section § 5822

This law lays out what the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development should include in its five-year plan to address mental health workforce needs in California. It highlights the need to expand educational capacity to meet mental health job shortages, and proposes expanding scholarship and loan forgiveness programs for those committing to work in California's public mental health system.

The law also suggests creating a stipend program for students who aim to work in mental health, establishing regional partnerships to engage diverse communities, and incorporating mental health occupations into high school career programs.

Additionally, it calls for training staff to align with certain mental health service principles, promoting the employment of mental health consumers and family members, and ensuring their involvement in educational programs.

Finally, it emphasizes the importance of including underrepresented community members and cultural competency in the mental health workforce.

The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development shall include in the five-year plan:

(a) Expansion plans for the capacity of postsecondary education to meet the needs of identified mental health occupational shortages.

(b) Expansion plans for the forgiveness and scholarship programs offered in return for a commitment to employment in California’s public mental health system and make loan forgiveness programs available to current employees of the mental health system who want to obtain Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, master’s degrees, or doctoral degrees.

(c) Creation of a stipend program modeled after the federal Title IV-E program for persons enrolled in academic institutions who want to be employed in the mental health system.

(d) Establishment of regional partnerships between the mental health system and the educational system to expand outreach to multicultural communities, increase the diversity of the mental health workforce, to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness, and to promote the use of web-based technologies, and distance learning techniques.

(e) Strategies to recruit high school students for mental health occupations, increasing the prevalence of mental health occupations in high school career development programs such as health science academies, adult schools, and regional occupation centers and programs, and increasing the number of human service academies.

(f) Curriculum to train and retrain staff to provide services in accordance with the provisions and principles of Part 3 (commencing with Section 5800), Part 3.2 (commencing with Section 5830), Part 3.6 (commencing with Section 5840), and Part 4 (commencing with Section 5850) of this division.

(g) Promotion of the employment of mental health consumers and family members in the mental health system.

(h) Promotion of the meaningful inclusion of mental health consumers and family members and incorporating their viewpoint and experiences in the training and education programs in subdivisions (a) through (f).

(i) Promotion of meaningful inclusion of diverse, racial, and ethnic community members who are underrepresented in the mental health provider network.

(j) Promotion of the inclusion of cultural competency in the training and education programs in subdivisions (a) through (f).

mental health workforce educational capacity expansion loan forgiveness programs scholarships public mental health system stipend program regional partnerships multicultural outreach mental health stigma reduction high school recruitment career development programs mental health occupations training and retraining cultural competency inclusion of diverse communities

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 23, Sec. 57. (AB 1467) Effective June 27, 2012. Note: This section was added on Nov. 2, 2004, by initiative Prop. 63.)