What is Proposition 2?
Proposition 2 will provide permanent supportive housing linked to treatment and services to help people with serious mental illness who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.
Why do we need Proposition 2?
We have a homelessness crisis in California that is straining our neighborhoods, businesses and public services. More than 134,000 Californians are living on the streets and as many as one-third of them are suffering from untreated mental illness. We also know the solution: Research shows that providing permanent supportive housing, linked to intensive services, has proven successful at getting people who are homeless and have a serious mental illness off the streets and into effective care. A recent RAND analysis that tracked a permanent supportive housing program in Los Angeles County found the foundation of housing helped get more than 3,500 people off the streets since 2012 and reduced taxpayer costs by 20 percent.
Who is the target population to be served?
Prop 2 will help adults with serious mental illness and children with severe emotional disorders and their families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
How does Proposition 2 work?
Prop 2 builds permanent supportive housing linked to mental health treatment and services – at no new cost for taxpayers – under a $2 billion bond. The bond will be financed using the Mental Health Services Act, also known as Proposition 63, the millionaire’s tax passed by California voters in 2004 that now generates $2.2 billion annually to improve mental health care across the state. Prop 2 will use just 6 percent of the annual revenue generated under the Act, with funding going to local communities and all California counties to support planning and construction of permanent supportive housing. The housing must be linked to support services for residents that are on site or easily accessible.
The Steinberg Institute hosts a robust internship program, and we’re regularly amazed and gratified by the smart, creative work our interns produce to support our efforts. Depending on their interests and strengths, that might mean research to inform our policy goals, outreach and communications to support our legislative agenda or reporting to enrich our website. Jake Linn joined us as a legislative intern for Summer 2018, and brought with him a keen interest in using art as a tool of communication. Jake, who is starting his second year at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is a gifted videographer. His parting gift to us was this video overview of the Steinberg Institute team and mission. Suffice it to say we were wowed.
We believe that access to quality mental health care is one of the most pressing civil rights issues of our time. The Steinberg Institute is committed to bringing together leaders in government, medicine, research, business and technology to advance the diagnosis and treatment of brain illness, and to usher in a system of care in which brain health is treated with the same sweep and urgency as physical health.
