Mental Health

California’s half-century-old involuntary mental health treatment law isn’t broken, but much of the system meant to serve those with serious mental illness is, state auditors concluded in a much-anticipated report released today. Some critics have called for rewriting state law to make it easier to force people into involuntary treatment, particularly by expanding the state’s […]

As COVID-19 cases surge in California, mental health experts describe both suffering and reason for hope at a virtual panel sponsored by CalMatters.

Efforts aim to dispatch mental health teams — not armed officers — for most crises calls involving mental illness and homelessness.

The coronavirus pandemic has turned the world upside down, and the fear and anxiety of living during these unusual times is taking a toll on Californians’ mental health. Economic stress, living in self-isolation and continued physical distancing can be overwhelming, and it’s more important than ever to make sure we’re taking care of ourselves. CalMatters […]

Everyone around Mark Rippee - a homeless man with a brain injury and paranoid schizophrenia — saw this coming. Nobody managed to stop it.

In his State of the State speech, Gavin Newsom calls for forcing more people into treatment, changing state spending rules, simplifying treatment paths, and linking housing and services.

California inches toward making it easier to compel treatment for mental illness, but serious questions remain. Among them: Do treatment options even exist?

Striking clinicians — spotlighting complaints that patients with serious mental illness face long waits and inadequate care — lay blame at the doorstep of the state Department of Managed Health Care.

Laws require health plans to provide patients equal treatment for mental and physical needs. But "parity" is often elusive — and critics say the Legislature and health officials have failed to fix the problem.

As more Americans seek help for symptoms of mental illness, the healthcare industry can’t keep pace with demand. In California, the largest de facto mental institution is now the Los Angeles County jail. All too often, the criminal justice system is the first stop toward getting long-term care. A few decades ago, fewer than half […]