California’s
Mental Health Service Act:
A Ten
Year $10 Billion Bait and Switch
An
investigation by Mental Illness Policy Org and Individual Californians
August 15, 2013
Background
In November, 2004 California voters enacted a 1% tax on millionaires (Prop 63) to establish the Mental
Health Services Act (MHSA) fund solely to help people with serious mental illnesses.[1] $10
billion has been raised since inception. Voters also created a Mental Health
Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC a/k/a “Oversight
Commission”) to see the program stuck to its purpose of helping people with
serious mental illness.
Primary Findings
Many people with serious mental
illness are receiving critical treatment as a result of Prop 63 but billions
are being diverted to other purposes:
- $1-2 Billion of Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Funds was intentionally diverted to social service programs masquerading as mental illness programs or falsely claim they prevent serious mental illness.
- ·$2.5 billion of the “Full Service Partnership (FSP) funds were spent without oversight of whether the recipients had schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or the other serious mental illnesses that made them eligible for MHSA funds.
- $23 million went to organizations directly associated with Oversight Commissioners.
- $11 million is going to PR firms that make the Oversight Commissioners look good and hide the failure of MHSA to accomplish its mission
- $9 million is going to organizations working prevent the seriously ill from receiving treatment until after they become violent.
- ·Up to $32 million was diverted to TV shows, radio shows, PSAs and other initiatives designed to reach the public without mental illness. Some feature the Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg
Additional Findings
