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

Two elderly individuals hold hands, their wrinkled fingers intertwined. One person wears a pastel blue sweater and light pink pants, while the other wears a plaid long-sleeve shirt. Sunlight casts a warm glow on their hands, highlighting the gold rings on their fingers.

Commentary

Elders and caregivers in California deserve better than funding hurdles and shuttered programs

Programs helping Californians care for dementia or Alzheimer’s patients already struggle. Recent proposals to cut Medicaid money makes this bad situation worse.

By Courtney E. Martin • February 19, 2025

Photo illustration of a gavel overlaid with blurry shadows of people

Justice

People are getting arrested under California’s new tough-on-crime law. Some counties aren’t ready

A key part of California's Proposition 36 promised to direct people convicted of certain drug crimes to treatment. Some counties are straining to make that happen without new funding.

By Cayla Mihalovich • February 11, 2025

A vendor bags psilocybin mushrooms at a cannabis marketplace in Los Angeles on May 24, 2019. Photo by Richard Vogel, AP Photo

Health

California almost legalized psychedelics. Now, supporters are looking for a good test case

Two states legalized psychedelic therapies since 2020 and President Biden signed a law supporting studies of how they might help veterans. Proposals like those keep dying in California.

By Ana B. Ibarra • January 2, 2025

A group of people in front of a building holding picket signs that reads "kaiserdondeny.org" and "stand with kaiser therapist, end the inequity."

Health

‘I have no safety net’: Mental health patients anxious as Kaiser SoCal strike hits week 10

Top California Democrats are pressuring Kaiser to make a deal with the union representing Southern California therapists, while patients say they're just holding on.

By Joe Garcia • December 20, 2024

A stack of small white plastic containers with white pills inside plastic bubbles with one with a yellow sticker saying "Start Here". The stack is held with a rubber band and sits on a desk on a stack of papers.

Health

A California recovery program keeps watch on addicted health workers — but not doctors

California doctors are asking the state to create a 'safe harbor' program for addiction recovery. They say the current system discourages doctors from participating because they regard it as punitive.

By Kristen Hwang • December 19, 2024

Capitol

Troubled California teens gain protections under a new law championed by Paris Hilton

Hilton, the latest celebrity to lobby the Legislature, persuaded it to pass a law that brings more transparency on the use of restraints and seclusion rooms.

By Lynn La • December 18, 2024

Dr. Rishi Patel from the Akido Street Medicine team checks on an unhoused man living in a vineyard in Arvin on May 28, 2024. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Homelessness

Federal health care dollars are helping to house homeless Californians. Trump could stop that

Gov. Newsom launched an ambitious program that uses Medi-Cal to help Californians access housing, healthy food and more. Now, its fate is in the hands of President-Elect Trump.

By Marisa Kendall • December 12, 2024

A framed portrait of a smiling person sits on a shelf. Next to the frame is a vibrant bouquet of yellow, orange, and purple flowers in a red vase, along with a small angel figurine and candles. The setting appears to be a memorial display.

Mental Health

He wanted to live. After his insurance rejected coverage, he died of a fentanyl overdose

California requires insurers to cover medically necessary mental health treatment. But to patients, the separation between what that law requires and what health plans provide often feels like a gaping chasm.

By Jocelyn Wiener • October 28, 2024

A collage of various candid photos arranged in a heart shape, displayed in a frame. The images feature people of different ages smiling, posing, and interacting, with one prominent portrait in the center. The background is a soft blur, focusing on the collage.

Mental Health

Denied coverage for mental health treatment? Here’s what you can do

Government agencies can overrule an insurance company's denial of coverage for a medically necessary mental health treatment, but figuring out how to appeal can be complicated.

By Jocelyn Wiener • October 28, 2024

A line of protestors holding signs and marching in front of a hospital.

Mental Health

Kaiser Permanente mental health workers begin open-ended strike in Southern California

The strike is the second one in a little more than two years by California mental health workers at Kaiser Permanente. The last one lasted 10 weeks. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

By Joe Garcia • October 21, 2024