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

WhatMatters

How much is a living wage in California?

From CalMatters California Divide reporter Jeanne Kuang: What’s one of the driving forces of poverty and inequality? When the cost of living outpaces the growth in wages. In response, California over the last two decades has raised the minimum wage every few years, as have some local governments. New state Sen. Steve Padilla, a Chula […]

By Sameea Kamal • February 13, 2023

Mental Health

Will the state’s big Medi-Cal plan really fix mental health care for low-income Californians?

A year into the rollout of CalAIM, payment details are murky and obstacles remain in finding help for Medi-Cal recipients with mental health needs.

By Jocelyn Wiener and Kristen Hwang • February 2, 2023

A student draws in class at San Antonio Elementary School in Lockwood on May 11, 2022. Photo by David Rodriguez for CalMatters/ CatchLight Local/ The Californian

Commentary

For many California children, Medi-Cal mental health services lack urgency they need

Despite recent policy changes, many California families seeking behavioral health treatment through Medi-Cal struggle to get the services they need in a timely manner. Given the scale of the emergency, state leaders must ensure these systems are sustainably resourced.

By Guest Commentary • January 19, 2023

A play area at WestCoast Children’s Clinic in Oakland on Sept. 22, 2021. The clinic serves nearly 1500 children annually, many of whom are low-income. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters

Commentary

No more excuses. California must prioritize children in foster care

Roughly 60,000 children are in California's foster care system. For years, state leaders have failed to make progress or increase support for them. In 2023, it must be a priority.

By Guest Commentary • January 5, 2023

Reader Reactions

California program screening for adverse childhood experiences is imperfect but important

Some child advocates worry that California's tool to screen kids for adverse childhood experiences has pitfalls that could cause even greater harm. Doctors argue that the innovative program is effective and beneficial, and creating systemic change in health care.

By Guest Commentary • December 21, 2022

CalFire firefighter Bo Santiago lights a backfire as the Rocky fire burns near Clearlake in 2015. Photo by Josh Edelson, AP Photo

California Wildfires

California firefighters get shorter workweeks — but not for 2 years

Facing a mental health crisis, Cal Fire crews sought less of a workload. But they have to wait two years under their new contract.

By Julie Cart • December 16, 2022

Illustration by Julie Hotz for CalMatters

Justice

No way out: Why a mentally disabled man was jailed nine years awaiting a murder trial that never happened

Lorenzo Mays, who is intellectually disabled, spent years lost in a criminal justice system in California that too often fails people with developmental disabilities and mental illness.

By Jocelyn Wiener • December 15, 2022

Lorenzo Mays poses for a photo outside the group home where he lives in Shingle Springs on Aug, 10, 2022. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters

WhatMatters

How the mentally disabled can languish in California jails

For almost nine years, Lorenzo Mays disappeared inside Sacramento County jail, charged with a murder he insists he didn’t commit. During that time, Mays was never brought to trial. He wasn’t allowed to leave. Instead, he remained in a kind of legal limbo, with most of his years spent in solitary confinement. The reason? Judges […]

By Emily Hoeven • December 15, 2022

Students make their way to class for the first day of school at Tustin Ranch Elementary School in Tustin on Aug. 12, 2021. Photo by Paul Bersebach, The Orange County Register via AP Photo

Commentary

Why is California fighting adverse childhood experiences with more trauma?

California's well-meaning program to treat adverse childhood experiences relies on a system that requires doctors to report them, even if it doesn't amount to abuse. The result could cause even greater harm to children.

By Guest Commentary • December 9, 2022

A guard tower at Kern Valley State Prison on Nov. 15, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Justice

Mentally ill prisoners in California are three times likelier to get shuffled around

Newly acquired state data shows that the Corrections Department transferred patients with serious mental illnesses an average of five times over a six-year period, underscoring a CalMatters’ investigation this year that revealed the practice and raised questions about the harm it could cause.

By Byrhonda Lyons, Jocelyn Wiener and Erica Yee • November 21, 2022