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New Report Shows Disproportionate Access to Mental Health Services for California Youth Since 2011 Realignment
A new report released by Young Minds Advocacy (YMA) this week found that hundreds of thousands of eligible California youth have not received Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS) since the state’s 2011 Realignment of this funding. These youth have not received services because they resided in counties with more Medi-Cal-eligible youth than mental health funding provided under Realignment.
Beginning in 2011, California changed the way it funds youth SMHS, designating allocation responsibility to the Department of Finance, in consultation with the Department of Health Care Services. Since 2011, funding decisions have relied primarily on past spending, resulting in a disproportionate allocation of funding favoring counties that have historically spent more on mental health care for youth, according to the report.
The report examined administrative data from Fiscal Year 2012-13 to 2019-20 and developed data for 29 counties that cover 95% of Medi-Cal eligible youth. Data show that disproportionately low funding in certain counties has constrained health service performance. For example, sixteen medium and large counties, serving more than a third of California’s youth, missed out on an estimated $3 billion in mental health funds and failed to serve about one-half million eligible youth since FY 2021-13. The report also notes the impact on youth who did receive services: They received fewer hours of service for shorter lengths of time. Read the full report here.
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