Community and Crisis Care Programs Branch
Community and Crisis Care Programs Branch (CCCPB), within the Medi-Cal Behavioral Health Policy Division (MCBH-PD), administers a wide variety of innovative behavioral health initiatives designed to support California's most vulnerable populations and enhance the behavioral health continuum of care. CCCPB oversees State and Federal funded efforts such as the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, the Recovery Incentives Program, the Medi-Cal Mobile Crisis Services Benefit and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
Community Assistance Treatment Section
Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act
Senate Bill (SB) 1338 (Umberg, Chapter 319, Statutes of 2022) established the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, which provides community-based behavioral health services and supports to Californians living with schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorders who meet health and safety criteria. It is a new civil court process where certain people, such as family members, first responders, and providers, may file a petition to the court to create a voluntary CARE agreement or a court-ordered CARE plan. A CARE agreement or CARE plan may include treatment, housing resources, and other services. The CARE Act is intended to serve as an upstream intervention for individuals experiencing severe impairment to prevent avoidable psychiatric hospitalizations, incarcerations, and Lanterman-Petris-Short Mental Health Conservatorships. The CARE Process will provide earlier action, support, and accountability for both CARE clients, and the local governments responsible for providing behavioral health services to these individuals. DHCS has contracted with Health Management Associates (HMA) to provide training and technical assistance, implementation support, and data collection and reporting for the CARE Act Resource Center, which provides training, technical assistance, and resources to county behavioral health agencies, counsel, volunteer supporters, and other stakeholders to support the implementation of the CARE Act. The Resource Center will continue to be updated with new information and training material.
For more information on the CARE Act, please visit our CARE ACT webpage.
Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) Program
Assembly Bill (AB) 1421 (Thomson, Chapter 1017, Statutes of 2002) established the Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) Demonstration Project Act of 2002 in Welfare and Institutions (W&I) Code Sections 5345 – 5349.5, known as Laura's Law. The legislation established an option for counties to utilize courts, probation, and mental health systems to address the needs of individuals unable to participate in community mental health treatment programs without supervision. AOT provides court-ordered community treatment for individuals with a history of hospitalization and contact with law enforcement.
DHCS is annually required to collect data outcomes from counties that have implemented the AOT program and to produce a report to the Legislature on the effectiveness of AOT programs on or before May 1. Pursuant to W&I Code Section 5348, the effectiveness of AOT programs is evaluated by determining whether participants served by these programs maintain housing and contact with treatment, have reduced or avoided hospitalizations and have reduced involvement with local law enforcement and the extent to which incarceration was reduced or avoided.
For more information on the AOT program, please visit our AOT webpage.
Patients' Rights
W&I Code Section 5325 protects the rights of Californians admitted under the Lanterman-Petris Short Act (LPS) who are receiving treatment in licensed mental health facilities, including those persons subject to involuntary treatment. DHCS is required to ensure that mental health laws, regulations, and policies for the rights of mental health service recipients are observed in licensed mental health facilities as defined in Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code
DHCS in collaboration with the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) through an interagency agreement is required to enter a multi-year contract with a nonprofit organization. The Disabilities Rights of California (DRC) is a nonprofit organization who currently provides technical assistance, training and complaint appeal resolution to all fifty-eight counties.
As specified in W&I Code Section 5324, upon admission to a facility each patient, involuntarily detained for evaluation or treatment under provisions of this part, or as a voluntary patient for psychiatric evaluation or treatment to a health facility, as defined in Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code, in which psychiatric evaluation or treatment is offered, shall immediately be given a copy of a State Department of Health Care Services prepared patients' rights handbook.
For more information on Patients' Rights or to submit an order request, please visit our Office of Patients' Rights webpage.
Crisis Care Section
Recovery Incentives Program
As part of the CalAIM demonstration, California became the first state in the nation to receive federal approval to cover contingency management (CM) services for substance use disorders (SUD) as part of the Medicaid program. California's program that offers the CM benefit is called the Recovery Incentives Program. CM is an evidence-based treatment that provides motivational incentives to treat individuals living with stimulant use disorder and support their path to recovery. It recognizes and reinforces individual positive behavioral change, as evidenced by urinary drug tests that are negative for stimulants. CM is the only treatment that has demonstrated robust outcomes for individuals living with stimulant use disorder, including reduction or cessation of drug use and longer retention in treatment.
DHCS will pilot Medi-Cal coverage of CM in DMC-ODS counties that opt in to cover the service starting in 2023. DHCS' primary goal for the pilot is to determine how to scale a proven treatment for stimulant use disorder in a large, complex state, supporting DHCS' broader policy goals to:
- Address the ongoing and shifting SUD crisis in California through the implementation of evidence-based treatments and practices; and
- Improve the health and well-being of Medi-Cal members living with stimulant use disorder, as measured by a reduction or cessation of drug use and longer retention in treatment.
For more information on the Recovery Incentives Program, please visit the DHCS Recovery Incentives Program website.
Medi-Cal Mobile Crisis Services
Mobile crisis services are a community-based intervention designed to provide de-escalation and relief to individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis wherever they are, including at home, work, school, or in the community. Mobile crisis services are provided by a multidisciplinary team of trained behavioral health professionals in the least restrictive setting. Mobile crisis services include screening, assessment, stabilization, de-escalation, follow-up, and coordination with healthcare services and other supports. Mobile crisis services are intended to provide community-based crisis resolution and reduce unnecessary law enforcement involvement and emergency department utilization. The Medi-Cal Mobile Crisis Services benefit will ensure that Medi-Cal members have access to coordinated crisis care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. In December 2022, DHCS released Behavioral Health Information Notice (BHIN) 22-064 to provide guidance on implementation of the benefit. In June 2023, DHCS released BHIN 23-025 (superseding BHIN 22-064), issuing revised guidance on this benefit.
DHCS has partnered with the Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. (AHP) who, in collaboration with the Center for Applied Research Solutions (CARS), provide mobile crisis training and ongoing technical assistance. For additional information, please email mobilecrisisinfo@cars-rp.org.
For more information on the benefit, please visit our CalAIM Behavioral Health Initiative Mobile Crisis Services website.
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 (NSHD) designated 9-8-8 as the new three-digit number for the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. As the nation's most populous state, California experiences the largest number of calls to 988. In December 2024,[SA1] around 1 in 10 calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (NSPL) originated in California. To handle this volume, a network of 12 local California Lifeline Crisis Centers provide free and confidential emotional support to individual 988 contacts from all 58 counties who are in behavioral health crisis.
Crisis line staff and volunteers facilitate suicide prevention and behavioral health crisis line services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The crisis line staff and volunteers provide an initial suicide risk screening and assessment consistent with NSPL guidelines, offer de-escalation, and provide clients with information and referrals to link the client to the appropriate community resources in the city or county of the client or person in crisis when known and available.
DHCS partners with Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. to ensure development, implementation, and on-going management of the 988 crisis hotline at all 12 California Lifeline Crisis Centers. This includes contract management and funding oversight, technical assistance, data analysis of key performance indicators, and monitoring for compliance and sustainability.
For more information on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, please visit our 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline website.
