Behavioral health-related treatment, housing that heals, and other services or supports.

Existing law establishes various state and local programs for the provision of behavioral health and housing assistance services within the jurisdiction of the State Department of Health Care Services, the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Social Services, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the California Behavioral Health Planning Council, the California Housing Finance Agency, and county public health or behavioral health departments, among other entities. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Health Care Services, subject to an appropriation and until January 1, 2027, to establish an infrastructure program to award competitive grants to, among other things, expand the community continuum of behavioral health treatment resources to build new capacity or expand existing capacity, as specified. Existing law also requires the department to maintain a behavioral health services and supports virtual platform for children and youth 25 years of age and younger, as specified. This bill would declare that it is the public policy of the state that the State Department of Health Care Services when revising, adopting, or establishing policies, regulations, or grant program criteria relating to access to behavioral health-related treatment, housing that heals, or other services or supports, are required to ensure that any individual with a severe behavioral health disorder who, as a result, lacks supportive housing and behavioral health services and is otherwise not living safely in the community receives an individualized, clinically appropriate range of behavioral health-related treatment, housing that heals, as defined, and other services or supports. The bill would specify that these provisions do not expand any obligation of the state or other entities to provide access to services or supports beyond requiring the department to consider the state policy, as specified.