Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s revised budget proposal may sharply limit the reach of a statewide behavioral health program credited with improving access to emergency care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Locally, Mobile Crisis Response Teams<\/a> (MCRTs) provide support to individuals facing mental health crises, regardless of insurance or housing status. The teams include trained civilians who connect individuals to long-term mental health services while diverting law enforcement personnel who may not have the training to handle mental health emergencies.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been over 32,000 calls to the Mobile Crisis Response Teams in San Diego County, and only 2% required that law enforcement also respond,\u201d said San Diego County Sheriff Kelly Martinez.\u00a0<\/p>\n Martinez and other experts, including members of the County Behavioral Health Directors\u2019 Association of California (CBHDA) gathered online and before the media last week to push for restoration of the state funding for the teams. Losing it, they warned, would mean losing ground when it comes to crisis care.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMaking mobile crisis optional would move us backwards,\u201d said Jessica Wilson, CEO of the National Alliance on Mental Illness California. \u201cIt would shift the burden to counties and create this patchwork system where one family may get a trained crisis team while another family in another county may be left with no reliable response at all.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2021, the federal government passed the American Rescue Plan Act to help communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of the act allowed mobile crisis services to fall under Medicaid, the federal program that covers healthcare for patients with low incomes.<\/p>\n A federal match of 85% was included in the federal bill for the benefit, but the match drops to 50% in 2027, according to CBHDA Executive Director Michelle Cabrera. This cut will require counties to find $169 million<\/a> annually to cover the service with the reduced federal support.<\/p>\n California piloted the service as a Medi-Cal benefit \u2013 the state\u2019s name for its Medicaid program \u2013 with 24\/7 operation. But under Newsom\u2019s proposed budget, mobile mental health crisis services would be transformed into an optional, county-funded benefit starting in April 2027<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n For San Diego County, that could mean a $24 million hit to the budget. Since 2021, the number of MCRTs in San Diego has increased to 44<\/a>, and 98% of calls receive a response in under an hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n The teams also take pressure off law enforcement, which once had to cover the majority of mental health calls.<\/p>\n \u201cThis partnership allows us to keep deputies focused on high priority calls and community safety while ensuring people in crisis receive care, coordination, stabilization support and connection to ongoing treatment,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n The county has been aggressive on the behavioral health front in the past five years, increasing annual investments and opening new crisis stabilization centers, which provide short-term services to those in crisis.<\/p>\n The efforts are part of a \u201cCare Before Crisis<\/a>\u201d mental-health strategy, aimed at reducing homelessness, incarceration and hospitalization. But the county is concerned that the proposed state cutbacks will limit care to the 112,000<\/a> San Diegans they serve.<\/p>\n After Newsom\u2019s May Revise, <\/a>the 2027 fiscal year budget, as proposed, will be the largest spending plan in California\u2019s history, at $349 billion, despite a $400<\/a> million drop in Medi-Cal funding.<\/p>\n Medi-Cal, one of the largest programs in the state\u2019s budget, faces additional pressure due to House Resolution 1, the federal Republican megabill<\/a> also known as the \u201cOne Big Beautiful Bill Act.\u201d Under the bill, cost of care rises for adults ages 19 to 59 who have \u201cunsatisfactory\u201d immigration statuses. By January 2027, Medi-Cal is expected to serve 500,000<\/a> fewer people.<\/p>\n Nadia Privara Brahms, director of San Diego County Behavioral Health Services, said, \u201cAs we see the impacts of H.R. 1, it\u2019s likely that more people will need mobile crisis services as they lose their health care benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n She called the mandatory mobile crisis \u201cessential to support our children, neighbors, our loved ones in crisis,\u201d and urged the governor and Legislature to \u201cprioritize long-term funding for this program.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. 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