Mental Health

CalMatters and CatchLight are partnering on a three-year initiative to tell powerful stories about mental health in California. We’ll spotlight solutions, personal stories, investigate systems, and bring greater awareness to this historically stigmatized topic. This initiative is supported by:

Enlight Foundation
California Health Care Foundation
Flourish Impact Fund
Lisa Stone Pritzker Family Foundation
Resonance Philanthropies
Sarlo Family Foundation
Sand Hill Foundation
Stuart Foundation

Commentary

‘Give me another solution.’ Counties resist mental health centers, betraying patients and families

Monterey County recently halted development of a mental health center, leaving struggling patients and families in a lurch.

By George B. Sánchez-Tello • March 31, 2026

Thumbnail image of a map of senior centers, zoomed to Southern California

Mental Health

Find a senior center near you in California

Use our map to find public places where older adults gather for meals, classes, exercise and community.

By Meisi Li • March 27, 2026

The inside of a building under construction with exposed framing and tools laying around.

Homelessness

10 projects from Newsom’s mental health bond were supposed to open in 2025. That didn’t happen

Projects that are supposed to offer mental health and substance use care to foster youth, new mothers, unhoused people and other vulnerable Californians have been delayed or cancelled.

By Marisa Kendall • March 12, 2026

A group of officials stands inside a building under construction with exposed wooden framing. One person speaks at a podium with a sign that reads “TREATMENT NOT TENTS,” while others stand behind them listening. Temporary work lights hang overhead, and unfinished walls and beams fill the background.

Mental Health

Newsom threatens California counties for failing to use his new mental health court

Far fewer people with mental illness are getting help in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s CARE Court program than expected. This week, he blamed local governments for shortcomings.

By Marisa Kendall • March 2, 2026

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at San Quentin State Prison announcing that the facility will be transformed to focus on training and rehabilitation on March 17, 2023. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters

Justice

Where death chamber once stood, Newsom shows off prison remodel emphasizing rehabilitation

Gov. Gavin Newsom suspended the death penalty and ordered the dismantling of death row. He unveiled changes at San Quentin that include a new education center.

By Cayla Mihalovich • February 20, 2026

Two people walk arm in arm through a room with chairs and tables where several others sit together, with framed documents on the wall and windows along one side.

Mental Health

How an aging California is turning to senior centers for romance, community and health

No two senior centers are alike. We visited three very different venues in L.A. to learn how they're changing to meet the needs of California's aging population.

By Joe Garcia • February 18, 2026

Mental Health

‘We wanted to find new friends’: See how older Californians are proving that senior isolation isn’t inevitable

Los Angeles senior centers are rebounding from COVID shutdowns and offering new programs for older adults. See how life changed for participants since the pandemic.

By Isadora Kosofsky and Jenny Jacklin-Stratton • February 18, 2026

An older adult using a walker approaches a small green shuttle bus parked at a curb, long shadows stretching across the sidewalk in bright late-afternoon sunlight.

Mental Health

5 things we learned by spending time in Los Angeles senior centers

No two California senior centers are alike. They're shaped by their neighborhoods with programs that range from gym classes to meals, movie nights and more.

By Joe Garcia • February 18, 2026

A close-up of a person’s face seen through a reflective surface, with two vertical tattoo lines on the chin, dangling earrings, and their gaze directed upward against a dark, blurred background.

Mental Health

Mental health advocate for California tribes dies; victim in murder-suicide

Celinda Gonzales of the Yurok Tribe worked to prevent suicides among Native Americans after experiencing loss in her family. She "was a friend to many," the tribe said.

By Nigel Duara • February 11, 2026

Silhouette of a person standing at a railing looking out into a bay with boats and the skyline of buildings in the background. The run is shining down, reflecting in the bay and creating shadows on the person and ships around the frame.

Mental Health

Listen: What happens when Californians with mental illness refuse to be treated?

One of Gov. Newsom's signature mental health programs was meant to bring treatment to people who refused it. So far, it's helping fewer Californians than many hoped.

By Julie Wernau and Dan Gorenstein • February 5, 2026