Newsroom
Fall 2004
- SFPI&S Votes Yes on Proposition 63
Joining with over 200 healthcare professional organizations, community groups, public safety officers and legislative leaders,
the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute & Society Board of Directors voted to support Proposition 63 at its September board meeting.
Proposition 63, also known as the Mental Health Services Act, expands mental health care for children and adults, using programs proven to be effective.
It is paid for by a 1% tax on taxable personal income over $1 million.
The personal and social costs that result from untreated mental disorders are considerable—similar to those associated with heart disease and cancer.
According to estimates by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Institute of Medicine, the direct costs for support and medical treatment of mental illnesses total $55.4 billion a year;
the direct costs of substance abuse disorders come to $11.4 billion a year;
and indirect costs such as lost employment, reduced productivity, criminal activity, vehicular accidents and social welfare programs increase the total cost of mental and substance abuse disorders to more than $273 billion a year.
Supporters of Proposition 63 estimate that the initiative will raise approximately $700 million dollars per year for mental health services in California.
According to San Francisco Foundation for Psychoanalysis Chair Mark I. Levy, M.D., FAPA,
"Proposition 63 is the most important piece of mental health legislation to affect Californians since the 1963 Kennedy Mental Health Act emptied 48,000 people out of our state mental hospitals."
"This is an exciting and creative proposed legislative solution to a 40-year-old chronic problem," says Levy.
"Proposition 63 is a creatively financed effort to right this injustice.
It is a 'carve out,' which means the funding cannot be decreased in annual budget wrangling at the state level, the way mental health funding is almost always cut."
To learn more about the Mental Health Services Act, please review the Frequently Asked Questions below, or visit the web site: www.yeson63.org.
To arrange an interview with Dr. Levy, please call Mary E. Tressel at 925-798-9421 or contact her via email at mary@tresselpr.com
Frequently Asked Questions about Proposition 63
The following information was obtained from the www.yeson63.org web site.
What would the Mental Health Services Act initiative do?
The Mental Health Services Act will expand mental health care programs for children and adults.
The measure provides services to persons currently disabled by mental illness,
persons showing signs of mental illness in need of prevention services, and to families and caregivers of those affected.
What kinds of services are offered?
The Mental Health Services Act will provide much more than mental health counseling and care.
The measure uses the "integrated services" model to provide a range of services,
an approach proven through programs created under AB 34, enacted by the Legislature in 1999.
Services include outreach, medical care, short and long-term housing, prescription drugs, vocational training, and self-help and social rehabilitation.
Does the initiative only help the poor and uninsured?
The Mental Health Services Act offers services to persons and families without insurance,
or for whom insurance coverage of mental health care has been exhausted.
Family payment obligations would be on a sliding fee schedule based on ability to pay.
How will the initiative help children facing mental illness?
The Mental Health Services Act creates children's services targeted to those not covered by existing programs,
particularly those with untreated mental disorders placing them at risk of severe mental illness, removal from home, suicide or violent behavior.
Additionally, the Mental Health Services Act assures that parents will not be required to relinquish custody of a child
in order to make the child eligible for medically necessary mental health care services.
Where will the money come from to pay for these new programs?
The Mental Health Services Act pays for expanded programs through a surcharge on income above $1 million per year.
The new 1% surcharge applies to each dollar earned over $1 million. The surcharge would raise approximately $600 million per year.
The program phases in over a three-year period. Some costs for facilities and education and training of new personnel are included in the initiative’s funding.
Who will ensure that the money is spent properly?
The measure creates a new Citizens Oversight and Accountability Commission to annually review each county's expenditure plan
and ensure that all expenditures are in accord with the voters' wishes.
In addition, the initiative only authorizes services in accordance with the Children's and Adults' Systems of Care.
These systems require each county's expenditures for each person to be approved by the State Department of Mental Health.
All expenditures are audited by state and local agencies and all service providers are subject to local oversight and state licensing.
Are there any benefits from this program for average California taxpayers?
The Mental Health Services Act generates hundreds of millions of dollars in savings.
Experience with AB 34 programs shows that, by treating mental illness earlier and more effectively,
savings are generated in reduced hospital costs, jail costs, and medical and welfare costs.
How will the money from Prop 63 be distributed?
Counties will receive funds to deliver services under Proposition 63 to the extent that they demonstrate that they have significant unmet needs and establish that they have the resources and capability
to deliver services that meet the standards under the nationally recognized integrated services model for adults and seniors and the children's system of care.
Similar requirements will be established by the Oversight and Accountability Commission which must approve expenditures for prevention and early intervention programs and/or for innovative programs.
Under the law, many counties contract with private, mostly nonprofit mental health agencies to deliver services.
Counties and these agencies will be required to establish positive outcomes to clients as a result of the services delivered as a condition of receiving funds in future years.
Will Prop. 63 fund a static system of delivery of mental health services,
or will the services funded by Prop. 63 be able to change and improve as new best practices are established and new research breakthroughs achieved?
Prop. 63 was developed and composed to establish a system that will be able to change and grow because mental health is a changing field,
with new "best practices" being established on an ongoing basis, and research breakthroughs occurring every day.
Under Prop. 63, counties will conduct a public review and hearing process to develop an updated three-year plan every year.
Programs will be funded under one of the categories under Prop. 63 to the extent that they establish that they are able to provide services
that are effective and successful and lead to positive outcomes for the clients.
Prop. 63 will fund innovative programs, prevention and early intervention programs, services for adults and for children, capital facilities, and human resources development.
Outcomes for each program will be evaluated, and only those programs that work the best will continue to be funded with Prop. 63 money and counties will be required to change their apporach to respond to new evidence of best practices and better outcomes.
Who will ensure that the money is spent properly?
The measure creates a new Citizens Oversight and Accountability Commission to annually review each county's expenditure plan and ensure that all expenditures are in accord with the voters' wishes.
In addition, the initiative only authorizes services in accordance with the Children's and Adults' Systems of Care.
These systems require each county's expenditures for each person to be approved by the State Department of Mental Health.
All expenditures are audited by state and local agencies and all service providers are subject to local oversight and state licensing.
News Room is
published as a service to the media by the San Francisco Foundation for Psychoanalysis.
Managing Editor: Mary Tressel (925) 798-9421
