Mental health careers: funding.

The Mental Health Services Act, an initiative statute enacted by the voters as Proposition 63 at the November 2, 2004, statewide general election, funds a system of county mental health plans for the provision of mental health services. Among other provisions, the act declares the intent to establish a program with dedicated funding to remedy the shortage of qualified individuals to provide services to address severe mental illnesses. Existing law requires each county mental health plan to submit to the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (office) a needs assessment identifying professional and occupational shortages in the county mental health programs, as specified. Existing law requires the office, in coordination with the California Behavioral Health Planning Council, to develop a 5-year education and training development plan, including expansion plans for loan forgiveness and scholarship programs offered to current and prospective public mental health system employees. Under existing law, the Health Professions Education Foundation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation established by the office, with various duties relating to the provision of scholarships and other types of financial assistance to students in the health professions from underrepresented groups with an interest in practicing in medically underserved areas. This bill would appropriate $20,000,000 from the General Fund to the office for the purpose of reducing the shortage of, and disparity in, mental health services across the state by performing one or more of specified actions, including the recruitment and support of students enrolled in a postsecondary educational institution, who are from both an underrepresented group and a mental health professional shortage area, as defined, to pursue mental health careers.