LA County Officially Transistions to Behaioral Health Services Act

LOS ANGELES — Effective July 2, the Los Angeles County’s Departments of Mental Health or LACDMH and Public Health or DPH join counties statewide to transition from the Mental Health Services Act or MHSA to the voter-approved Behavioral Health Services Act or BHSA as part of a broader effort to transform behavioral health in California known as the Behavioral Health Transformation.

In March 2024, California voters passed Proposition 1, which amended the 2004 Mental Health Services Act, allowing for the transition to the current Behavioral Health Services Act. The act adds no new taxes but reconfigures how the tax for mental health maintains state-provided services while allowing for funding for substance use disorder services. Proposition passage also approved the issuance of $6.3 billion in bonds to support treatment and housing beds.

The BHSA maintains most of the funding allocated by the MHSA, but changes how those funds are used and expands planning to partner with the county’s Department of Public Health’s Substance Abuse Prevention and Control or DPH SAPC Bureau to include all behavioral health programming.

“Many of BHSA’s changes are administrative, which means consumers will experience a seamless transition to this new age of mental health care in Los Angeles County,” said LACDMH Director Lisa H. Wong, Psy.D. “Through BHSA, the State’s new funding mechanisms allow us to expand specialized services, invest in innovative programs and broaden our reach to better provide hope, recovery and wellbeing for all.”

Los Angeles County, with this reform, aims to build a behavioral health system that is accessible, community-based, integrated, equity-driven and accountable. The shift allows LACDMH and DPH SAPC to provide a broader range of behavioral health services and expanded housing interventions, prioritizing individuals with significant mental health needs and/or substance use disorders.

BHSA restructures five existing funding categories into three. It is a change in how state funding must be allocated and accounted for. 

BHSA’s three main funding categories:

• Housing and Operating Subsidies (30%): This category helps those with chronic homelessness by providing resources such as security deposits, interim housing, rental subsidies and licensed residential care.
• Full-Service Partnerships (FSP) (35%): As LACDMH’s most intensive level of care, this category aims to do “whatever it takes” to help individuals of all ages who need services the most.
• Behavioral Health Services and Supports (35%): This category is divided into two sub-categories.
  • Early Intervention, where funding targets engagement initiatives before the onset of serious mental illness in efforts to prevent homelessness, overdose and suicide.
  • Flexible, intended for outpatient and crisis care and can be used for workforce support.

Engagement and dialogue around this service delivery system will be ongoing and will continue with LA communities. Continuity of care is the anchor of this transition. No client will lose services and the transition is phased, so the system stabilizes as it changes.

While the transition to BHSA provides significant consumer-driven momentum for enhancing mental health and substance use services in Los Angeles County, changes to other programming are expected. Prevention programs funded by MHSA, previously overseen by LACDMH, will now be administered by the California Department of Public Health.