Priorities and Objectives:
2020-2023

Priorities and Objectives

The Commission’s overarching objective – well-being for all Californians – calls for a broad public understanding of the potential to prevent, treat and recover from mental health issues; and recognition that those in need of care must have access to high quality, affordable, and increasingly effective care. To advance this vision, the Commission commits to the following goals and objectives:

Advance a Shared Vision

Strategic goal 1: The Commission will advance a shared vision for reducing the consequences of mental health needs and improving wellbeing – and promote the strategies, capacities and commitment required to realize that vision.

Objectives:

1. Promote school mental health as a prime strategy for reaching and serving at-risk children, families and neighborhoods.
   • Implement the Mental Health Student Services Act, including working with grantees to capture lessons learned and achieve system-scale sustainability.
   • Advance the principles and recommendations in the Commission’s school mental health report by guiding legislation, future state investments and community partnerships.
2. Develop and advance a strategy for aligning public and private resources and actions toward the prevention and early intervention for mental health needs.
   • As directed in SB 1004, distill and disseminate knowledge on how mental health issues can be prevented, detected early and addressed at population scale.
   • Integrate a robust monitoring strategy for prevention and early intervention spending into the Commission’s review of county reporting documents and the Commission’s Transparency Suite.
   • Improve technical assistance and related activities to build capacity at the community level to coordinate resources and services to improve outcomes.
   • Communicate the potential for preventing mental health issues to public and private sector decisionmakers.
3. Establish and promote the adoption of voluntary standards for the workplace to reduce stigma, increase awareness, and guide strategies to support mental health and wellness.
   • As directed by SB 1113, and in consultation with employers, employees and other stakeholders, develop voluntary workplace mental health standards for adoption by private and public sector employers.
   • Develop and propose an implementation strategy, including ways to promote, support, and evaluate programs and document costs, benefits and opportunities for improvement.

Leverage Data and Analytics

Strategic goal 2: The Commission will advance data collection and analysis to identify desired outcomes, better deploy resources and programs, and tranform and connect programs.

Objectives:

1. Continue to develop the Transparency Suite at MHSOAC.CA.GOV to capture more detailed information that is easier to find and interpret.
   • Work with state and county agencies to capture accurate and consistent fiscal, program, and outcome data from revenue and expenditure reports, three-year plans, annual updates, annual and three-year PEI evaluation reports, and innovation plans and final reports.
   • Integrate information into the system so stakeholders can use it to design, manage, and evaluate policies and programs.
2. Refine the Commission’s management of county-level information to better inform decision-making by state and county policymakers and administrators.
   • Better manage county-level data, including the county reports listed above, as well as Full Service Partnership, and other client service information to accelerate knowledge transfer and strengthen the capacity of counties to design, build, and manage more accessible and cost-effective services.
3. Further develop the Commission’s capacity to aggregate and integrate cross-system data, including data regarding health and mental health, education, employment and criminal justice to assess system performance and identify opportunities for improvement.
   • Acquire and curate data from all relevant state agencies, including the departments of Education, Employment Development, Justice, Social Services and State Hospitals, and the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development.
   • Collaborate with other state-level efforts to integrate and deploy data to improve state policies and resource allocation, including the Governor’s proposed Center for Data Insights and Innovation.

Catalyze Improvement in Policy and Practice

Strategic goal 3:The Commission will the positive transformation of state policies and community practices by (1) providing information and expertise; (2) facilitating networks and collaboratives; and, (3) identifying additional opportunities for continuous improvement and transformational change.

Objectives:

1. Support and evaluate multi-county collaboratives to improve data analysis, knowledge transfer, and the management capacity required.
   • Support the Full Service Partnership pilot to identify ways to improve this significant investment in addressing serious mental illness.
   • Support the Early Psychosis pilot to advance the knowledge transfer and capacity building for more effective detection and response to early experiences with mental health issues.
   • Oversee completion of Innovation Incubator projects and evaluate the value of their results.
2. Support implementation of Striving for Zero, the State’s suicide prevention plan for 2020-25.
   • Work with the Governor, the Legislature and community leaders to establish an Office of Suicide Prevention, expand training resources, better integrate suicide prevention services into health care settings, and encourage the renewal of community prevention plans.
3. Support youth-led efforts to advance and expand consumer-led and consumer-centric services and expand access to youth-focused services.
   • Support the Youth Innovation Committee in developing practices that engage youth in the design, delivery and evaluation of services; encourage counties to adopt those practices.
   • Distribute funds to expand Youth Drop-In centers to improve access to care for young people.