Behavioral Health Services Act

Transforming Behavioral Health

Background

In March 2024, California voters passed Proposition 1 to transform behavioral health (mental health and substance use challenges) through statewide reform and expansion of California’s behavioral health system. The two legislative bills that created the language in Proposition 1 are:

Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) SB 326
Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond Act AB 531

Investing in Prevention

CDPH will receive funding to implement population-based behavioral health-prevention strategies.

A minimum of 4% of BHSA funds will be directed for population-based mental health and substance use disorder prevention programs.
A significant portion of these prevention funds (51%) will be reserved for programs addressing prevention for populations who are 25 years or younger.

Improving Behavioral Health Outcomes

Behavioral health conditions have a growing impact on Californians. More than 50 different programs across CDPH work to improve behavioral health outcomes for all Californians. Examples include: 

The groundbreaking California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP).
Creation of the Office of Suicide Prevention and increased efforts to address the root causes of suicide and self-harm injuries.
The Substance and Addiction Prevention Branch and increased outreach, education, and harm reduction efforts.
CDPH is part of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, which is currently leading three initiatives:

Never a Bother Campaign launched in March 2024 through the CDPH Office of Suicide Prevention. This is a multilingual youth suicide prevention media and outreach campaign, co-created with youth from across the state.   
The Youth Suicide Reporting and Crisis Response Pilot Program is developing and testing models to make youth suicide and attempted suicide reportable events that initiate rapid and comprehensive responses (i.e., crisis response) in schools and community settings.  
The Take Space to Pause campaign, a public education and change campaign co-designed with youth to reduce stigma around behavioral health and to increase help-seeking behavior and wellness support.