The Planning Council accomplishes much of its work through its committee structure. Between Planning Council meetings, decisions are made by the Planning Council’s Executive Committee. For a list of Executive Committee members, click here.

The Council is currently organized into nine standing committees consistent with the major policy issues in the mental health system agreed upon by the membership:

• Human Resources Committee – addresses the critical shortage of human resources at all levels of service facing the mental health system. Functions include:
  • Building on Planning Council commitments made at Human Resources Summit with the goal of developing short-, mid-, and long-term strategies to address the problems of education and work readiness, recruitment and retention strategies, and expanded work force roles.
  • Promoting the cultural, ethnic, linguistic, gender, and faith-based diversity of the public mental health workforce.
  • Encouraging training and employment of consumers and family members within the public mental health system.
  • Serving as a statewide catalyst for innovative workforce development strategies.
  • Convening education, community-based organizations, and mental health industry to develop pragmatic workforce development solutions.
  • Developing manuals and model projects that can be shared with educational programs and employers within the public mental health system.
  • Monitoring the implementation of the Education and Training Program component of the Mental Health Services Act.

For a list of Human Resources Committee members.

• Legislation, Regulations, and Funding Committee – is the newest of the CMHPC committees. The Legislative, Regulations, and Funding Committee was formed to advocate and testify on legislation and Governor’s Budget based on positions that are consistent with the CMHPC’s legislative platform and:
  • Propose legislation consistent with the mission and vision of the CMHPC.
  • Participate in the development of regulations affecting mental health funding for programs and services.
  • Evaluate the Governor’s Budget proposal for impacts on mental health services, advocating or testifying as appropriate throughout the budget development

For a list of Legislative, Regulations, and Funding Committee members.

• Cultural Competence Committee
  Functions for the CCC include:
  • Ensuring that cultural competence is embedded into the decision making process of each CMHPC committee.
  • Oversees the promotion of cultural awareness and diversity in the operation of the CMHPC.
  • Developed a comprehensive set of guidelines and strategies for speakers to infuse principles, content, and themes related to cultural and linguistic
    competence into their presentations.
  • The Cultural Competence Committee will be reviewing the original recommendations on cultural competence that were developed by the
    CMHPC in the California Mental Health Master Plan: A Vision for California, to determine how to update and implement them.

For a list of Cultural Competence Committee members.

• Quality Improvement Committee – relates to a mandate in state law that the Planning Council reviews and approves performance indicators and uses data on performance for system oversight. Functions include:
  • Formulating the CMHPC’s position on issues before the State Quality Improvement Council.
  • Formulating the CMHPC’s positions on implementation of performance outcome systems for county mental health programs and state hospitals.
  • Monitoring the adequacy of the DMH’s oversight of the public mental health system.
  • Monitoring county performance by developing projects using performance indicators for programs funded by realignment funds and the Mental Health Services Act.
  • Continuing the model of working with mental health boards and commissions to obtain their interpretation of performance indicator data for their counties.
  • Reviewing the performance of Medi-Cal Mental Health Plans by periodically reviewing the results of managed care on-site reviews and external quality review reports.
  • Reviewing state hospital performance.

For a list of Quality Improvement Committee members.

• Policy and System Development Committee – develops policy recommendations on emergent issues facing the mental health system. Functions include:
  • Studying the impact of recent budget cuts on county mental health departments’ ability to deliver core mental health services.
  • Monitoring how recently proposed changes to the Medicaid regulations will affect mental health services in California.
  • Monitoring the development of supported housing through a number of programs, including Proposition 46, Proposition 1C, and Proposition 63

For a list of Policy and System Development Committee members.

System of Care Committee – Focus on substantive treatment issues, identifying and recommending model treatment programs, and identifying gaps or problems with each system of care and developing recommendations.

• Adult SOC Sub-committee members
• Older Adult SOC Sub-committee members
• Children and Youth SOC Sub-committee members
• Transition Age Youth SOC Sub-committee members