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Children's Behavioral Health

Also see webpages:  Foster Children & Youth  and  ​Youth 16 - 25

Legislation/Policy Advocacy

Behavioral Health Vision for Foster Youth - Advising Cal AIM, CBHDA, CWDA, 5/2020

Legislative Change

AB-2246 Pupil suicide prevention policy requirement public schools grades 7 - 12. Related 2020 Auditor's Report​
​

AB-403 Implementation Requirements to Establish a Family Urgent Response System for Foster Caregivers and Children or Youth

AB-2083 Foster youth: trauma-informed system of care - Requirements for local communication and collaboration, including "Memos of Understanding" (MOU) between local agencies.

AB 403 - Implementation Requirements for trauma-informed core services and training for short-term residential therapeutic programs and Foster Family Agencies
​

AB 114: EDUCATIONALLY-RELATED MH SERVICES (ERMHS) Assembly Bill (AB) 114 changed the process by which students in Special Education receive mental health services. Previously, under AB 3632, county mental health departments provided services. However, realignment under AB 114 requires all California school districts to be solely responsible for ensuring that students with disabilities, as designated by their Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), receive the mental health services necessary to benefit from a special education program.
Students with IEPs who demonstrate behavioral health issues that impact their ability to learn and access the school curriculum are eligible for AB 114. 

Services must be included in the IEP and can include: individual counseling, parent counseling, social work services, psychological services, and residential treatment. Any service agreed upon by the student’s IEP team as necessary for the student to receive a free and appropriate public education may be considered a related service and covered by AB 114 funds.

There are three primary ways districts are meeting the AB 114 requirement:
  1. School districts hire mental health professionals (i.e., credentialed and/or licensed social workers, psychologists) and provide services through these staff.
  2. School districts contract with community mental health agencies or other qualified professionals to provide services.
  3. School districts contract with county mental health departments to provide services.
AB 114 funds a variety of practices that can include evidence-based practices such as Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS).

Funding Process:  Funding is distributed from the California Department of Education directly to Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs) based on the average daily attendance of all pupils in the SELPA (regardless of how many pupils have an IEP or disability). SELPAs then determine how to allocate dollars to the individual districts and schools.

Additional Information: ​Assembly Bill 114 Special Education Transition: Click to learn more.


Resources/Reports

PictureBest practices in student mental health starting with whole school strategies, then small group intervention, and finally individual intervention and referrals.
Youth at the Center: Calls-To-Action for a Reimagined Behavioral Health Ecosystem from Children, Youth, and Families Across California, CA Health & Human Services

Working Paper: California’s Children & Youth Behavioral Health Ecosystem, an early blueprint articulating what a more integrated and equitable mental and behavioral health system would look like and outlining the components, changes and steps necessary to get there, CA HHS Behavioral Health Task Force
​

Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative January 2023 Progress Report, CA HHS Behavioral Health Task Force

National Guidelines for Child and Youth Behavioral Health Crisis Care
, SAMHSA, 2022


Children & Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, DHCS, 2022

L.A. County Multidisciplinary Assessment Team Process Report, CA Institute for Behavioral Health Solutions, 2022


“Addressing infant and early childhood mental health needs: opportunities for community solutions,” The Children's Partnership and the First 5 Center for Children's Policy

California Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Project: Includes a series of free, evidence-based video and print resources that caregivers and educators can use to teach their kids critical mental health and coping skills. In English and Spanish, they are tailored for elementary, middle, and high school students. 

New mental health curriculum law goes into effect in California, SM Daily Journal, 2022

COVID-19 and Children’s Mental Health: Addressing the Impact, 2021 Little Hoover Commission

School Mental Health 101: A Primer for Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans, National Center for Youth Law & CA Children’s Trust, 2021

Mental Health Integration through an Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF), midwestpbis2.org

Protecting Youth Mental Health, U.S. Surgeon General, 2021

Students & Trauma, A Culture of Compassion, CA Teacher's Association, October 15, 2019

California Student Mental Health Implementation Guide, MHSOAC, DOE, CalMHSA+

Parent Training and Information Centers (PTI), Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund


The Power of Partnerships - Getting Students the Help They Need, California Alliance of Child and Family Services, 2021
​

SB 75 Medi-Cal For Children Progress Report - Improving coordination and expansion of access to available federal funds through the Medi-Cal Billing Option Program, the School-Based Medi-Cal Administrative Activities program, and medically necessary federal Early and Periodic Screening,
Diagnostic, and Treatment benefit 

Family Urgent Response System for Foster Caregivers and Children or Youth currently or formerly in the Foster Care System.

Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Best Practices Guide, DHCS 10/2020
​

Trauma & Developmental Screenings / ACEs, DHCS PowerPoint

Parent Partner Program, United Parents

Best Practices in Student Mental Health
​"Why Schools Hold the Promise for Adolescent Mental Health" CA School Board Association, May 2019  Report includes:
  • Best Practices
  • Questions to help board members determine mental health services and needs in their Local Education Agencies.​

​Guidance to States and School Systems on Addressing Mental Health & Substance Use issues in Schools, Joint Bulletin: SAMHSA and CMS, July 2019

​Trauma-Informed Care for Children and Families
  • American Psychological Association (Introduction to Special Issue) 2019
  • The National Child Traumatic Stress Network 
  • FOCUS Family Resiliency (includes "Handle with Care")

Regional K-12 Demonstration Programs, CalMHSA 
​​
"Headspace" Youth-Led Prevention and Wellness
, Leveraging MHSA Funding to Coordinate Mental Health Care, July 2018 (page 8)

Triple P Parenting Program, An Evidence-based practice (used in Mendocino County with blended funding.) 
​

Integration leads to Co-Location and Coordination (in Yolo County) - Leveraging MHSA Funding to Coordinate Mental Health Care, July 2018 (page 10-11)

2016 School-Based MHSA Prevention and Early Intervention Programs, CA Behavioral Health Directors Association 
​
PREP:  A PEI Funded Psychosis Early Intervention Treatment Program, 2016 - In Alameda, Monterey, San Mateo & San Francisco Counties.

Supportive Outreach & Access to Resources (SOAR) - Napa and Solano Counties

​Programs Servicing Children & Youth Displaying Emotional Disturbance as a result of Trauma, MHSA/UCLA (2014)


​Medi-Cal Coverage for Early and Periodic Screening Diagnostic Treatment Services (EPSDT)
​
Teen Depression, Brochures & Fact Sheets, National Institute for Mental Health


After a Suicide:  A Toolkit for Schools, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Integration & Collaboration to meet the needs of children, youth and families, re: Katie A v. Bonta & CA AB403., Ca HHSA, 1-12-16

Continuum of Care Reform (CCR) Toolkit - CCR is an initiative to drastically change policy and practice in California's foster care system.  (formerly "Katie A")

Partnering to Serve the Mental Health Needs of Children in Child Welfare
, CIBHS Training

​
From Best Practices to Breakthrough Impacts - A science-based approach to building a more promising future for young children and families, Harvard University Center on the Developing Child, 2016

The Science of Neglect:  The Persistent Absence of Responsive Care Disrupts the Developing Brain, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2012). Working Paper No. 12. www.developingchild.harvard.edu
​
Want to improve kids' mental health? Start at School,
 Minn Post, 2-22-17

Race, Ethnicity Affect Kids’ Access To Mental Health Care, Study Finds, California Healthline (8-22-16)

Trauma-informed Mental Health Care in CA: California Mental Health Planning Council Study (2015)​

Three of four California children with mental health needs don't get treatment
, UCLA (7-28-14)

​Children & Youth:
​Schools as Centers of Wellness 

Image of Children and Youth Issue Brief
Issue Brief    ADA    Spanish

News/Articles

Education on fentanyl, other drugs often optional in California schools, if offered at all. // EdSource

Opinion:  We Need More Mental Health Resources to Tackle Childhood Anxiety
, CaliforniaHealth Report Solutions for Health Equity, August 2022

The need for bold action to address our children’s mental health, Cal Matters Guest Commentary by Karen Larsen, CEO of Steinberg Institute

U.S. Surgeon General Issues Advisory on Youth Mental Health Crisis Further Exposed by COVID-19 Pandemic, U.S. Health & Human Services, 2021


A new way to help young people with their mental health, Recording, TED Fellow Tom Osborn, 2021

COVID-19 and Children’s Mental Health, CA Little Hoover Commission:
  • ​Recorded Webinar, November 2021
  • Report, January 2021

Striving to Meet the Mental Health Needs of Children with Physical Health Conditions, 2021

San Francisco Expands School Mental Health Programs August 2019
​
​
State launches $50M program for school-based mental health
, August 2019

Enhancing Services for Students: California Local Education Agency Medi-Cal Reinvestments, CA School-Based Health Alliance

Treatment for psychosis—and other mental illness—differs drastically by county, Cal Matters June 2019

California's Mental Health System is Failing Kids and Needs Major Change, Coalition Says, CA Health Report, November 2018
​

For Low-Income Children, Access to Mental Health Care Varies Sharply by County, CA Health Report, August 2018


​Few Low-Income Children Get Mental Health Care in California, Despite Need, CA Health Report, July, 2018

​Teen Suicide is Soaring [in the U.S.], USA Today, March 2018

Contra Costa Youth Suffer from Shortage of Psychiatrists
 KQED, August, 2017 
​

TAU study links cannabis use in adolescence to schizophrenia, Tel Aviv University, August, 2017
​
​County approves contract for teen inpatient unit, Palo Alto Weekly, 2-13-17

OFFICE

717 K STREET, SUITE 427
SACRAMENTO, CA 95814

mission

cALBHB/C supports the work of california's 59 local mental/ behavioral health boards and commissions by providing resources, training, and opportunities for communication and statewide advocacy.

Local boards are responsible for reviewing community mental health needs, services, facilities and special problems, and serve in an advisory capacity to local governing bodies and local mental/behavioral health directors per CA Welfare and Institutions Code 5604.2.
Donations are welcome. CALBHB/C is a nonprofit organization.