The first 2026 Steinberg Institute Champion is Michael Mason. As Section Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department Community Paramedicine Division, Chief Mason is rewriting the script for mental health and substance use crisis response in California.
This policy brief identifies 988 outcomes measures that move beyond operational call center metrics and measure people-focused outcomes, efficiencies in connecting individuals to care, and more.
What the data show on the relationship between behavioral health and homelessness in California, why they are unable to access housing or care, and what policies and initiatives are needed to solve this crisis.
States are making difficult decisions about how to preserve behavioral health care amid federal funding and budget challenges—and the consequences of these actions are becoming clear. For Idaho, it was ACT programs. For California, it’s mobile crisis systems that are at risk.
At this year’s Vision 2030 Solution Symposium, leaders discussed how to ensure California’s behavioral health reforms work. Here’s what they said.
A new national report from Inseparable underscores the urgency and the opportunity for California to strengthen its behavioral health workforce. Here’s everything you need to know.
ACT and FACT are evidence-based models designed for people with the most complex behavioral health needs, and peers are a critical part of their success, especially during key moments of transition. Learn how these models work and why peers are essential to their success.
Assembly Bill 988, the law that established and funded California’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, has been selected for a formal legislative Outcomes Review as part of a new initiative to evaluate how effectively recently enacted policies are working in practice. The review will focus on implementation: what’s working, where gaps remain, and what it will take to ensure Californians in crisis can access the right care at the right place and time.
Karen Larsen, CEO of the Steinberg Institute, reflects on the “us vs them” mentality between supporters of Proposition 1 and the Peer Support Specialist movement—and how framing the two as competing priorities presents a false choice.
How alternative destination programs work—and what they mean for California’s behavioral health system When someone in California experiences a behavioral health crisis, help usually comes through a 911 call, where they get sent to an emergency department. […]