New research from the Steinberg Institute examines decades of behavioral health funding to show how instability continues to threaten care in California.
Over the past decade, California has made historic progress in behavioral health. Since 2016, behavioral health funding has nearly tripled, ushering in bold new initiatives like the Mental Health Services Act, CalAIM, and Proposition 1. These reforms signal a growing recognition that mental health and substance use care must be prioritized.
Despite these advances, the system remains vulnerable. Today, Californians with serious mental illness and substance use disorders still struggle to access timely, life-saving care. Many are waiting months for treatment, cycling through jails and ERs, or dying in our streets.
A 70-year look at California’s behavioral health funding history
The Steinberg Institute’s new position paper, Boom, Bust, Repeat, examines more than 70 years of behavioral health funding in California. Dating back to the Short-Doyle Act of 1957, we found that periods of reform and investment are too often followed by budget shortfalls, shifting political priorities, and program cuts. This volatility leaves counties consistently scrambling to maintain care with unpredictable funding streams.
With a behavioral healthcare system built on unstable ground, it’s our most vulnerable Californians who will pay the price and fall through the cracks.
California’s mental health care system is once again in jeopardy
We’re at another inflection point in 2025. California is facing a projected $12 billion budget deficit, with key infrastructure and workforce investments already being delayed or cut. Meanwhile, at the federal level, the proposed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” threatens to slash Medicaid by $800 billion, jeopardizing coverage for millions and gutting the financial foundation of California’s behavioral health system.
Whether we move forward or regress depends on what policymakers and other leaders do today. The stakes are too high, and the pattern is too familiar.
The future of mental health care in California depends on stable investment
The Steinberg Institute launched Vision 2030, an initiative based on outcomes and research to reduce incarceration, homelessness, and hospitalization for Californians with behavioral health conditions. But that vision, just like California’s behavioral health system, depends on stable, reliable funding – in good times and bad.