Last week Governor Newsom released the May Revision of his proposed state budget which includes an investment of $20 billion to make public schools gateways of equity and opportunity, with 20% of those funds —$4 billion dollars—dedicated to transforming California’s behavioral health system into a world-class, innovative, and prevention-focused system for Californians age 0-25. For young people, their families, allies and advocates, the proposal represents an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine our mental health system and center it on equity and justice.

And given our state ranks 44th in the nation in access to behavioral health care among children in Medi-Cal–81% of whom are children of color–this investment is long overdue.

By truly listening to and acknowledging the wisdom and intelligence of youth and their families, the Administration can set us on a course of radical healing. Healing that centers the impact of racism and poverty and shifts agency and power in strategies to support and enhance the social and emotional health of children. In planning for unprecedented investment in schools, children and youth, we all need to be brave enough to not only listen to youth, but to create permanent paths for them to lead the change.

Below are examples of how CCT and our partners and allies are lifting up, and working with young people to lead the way.

Taking Action with Youth Advocates

California Coalition for Youth and California Children’s Trust Expand Youth Advocates Program

We have partnered with youth leaders to create a Youth Advocacy Fellowship and Youth Advocacy Board to:

• Support youth in building their advocacy skills.
• Offer youth opportunities to change and influence the systems that impact them.
• Acknowledge the wisdom and experience young people bring to complex issues by compensating them for their advocacy.

See below for examples of how youth Fellows and Board members are already advocating for actions that impact their lives. Learn more about the Youth Advocates Program and meet our Youth Advocacy Board members.

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) Launches the New Deal for Youth

May 26 Virtual Rally: Join the New Deal for Youth Changemakers as they unveil their new youth-led campaign and share their policy platform. Register.

The Children’s Partnership Launches The Hope, Healing and Health Collective (H3 Collective)

The H3 Collective is a youth-led collaborative that will inform policy solutions that better serve the mental health of BIPOC young people and communities. Learn more.

Youth Advocates Join Critical Conversations

CCY Youth Advocates share their lived experience, ideas and recommendations on several recent legislative actions to change youth mental health services.

Youth Inform Recommendations for Telemental Health Policy in Medi-Cal

We interviewed 14 young people who are covered by Medi-Cal to learn more about their experiences with digital mental health services during the pandemic. This just-released Youth Snapshot captures their personal statements about managing mental stress during the pandemic, and provides their recommendations for better meeting the mental health needs of youth.

The Youth Snapshot is a companion piece to January 2021 NO GOING BACK: Providing Telemental Health Services to California Children and Youth After the Pandemic report that provided telemental health recommendations based on interviews with a diverse set of menta; health providers.

CCT youth advocates shared their lived experience to amplify key recommendations and advocate for the inclusion of phone and text messaging for all Medi-Cal providers in DHCS’s Telehealth proposal.

“If I’m struggling on any particular day with my issues, I reach out to my therapist first via text because I know she’ll get back to me as soon as she can. She will text with me and stay on the thread as long as I need to get stable and go on with my day.”
- G, Oakland, 20 years old. Full testimony.

Youth Join CCT to Advocate for School Based Mental Health: AB 586 Moves Forward

In April, CCT co-sponsored AB 586 to establish pilot projects that will provide in-depth, hands-on technical assistance and support to specified Local Education Areas to allow them to build a sustainable model of delivering school-based health and mental health services. A significant number of organizations and individuals stepped up with support letters, and CCT principal, Alex Briscoe, provided testimony and the bill passed both the committee on education and committee on health with no opposition.

Youth Leader Advocates for Increased School Mental Health Support

I believe there are two critical things that students need to feel more in control of their own mental health and wellness. First, teachers and students themselves need to have the training and support to really listen to each other and build trusting relationships in the classroom and embedded in the culture of the school. When we feel secure with our relationships, it lifts the stigma of mental health, and we are in it together. Second, we need programs that educate everyone about mental health and scoial-emotional wellness. It is something that permeates our lives, and students want to be seen as full people, not just people who are stressed about grades. These types of comprehensive and relationship-building supports take time and investment–they take the commitment that I'm seeing from AB 586.
- Isabel, Californians for Justice Youth Leader, excerpt from letter of support for AB 586

CCT Engages Youth in Historic Medi-Cal Managed Care Re-Procurement Process

In the coming months, DHCS will release a draft MCP Request for Proposal and contract template–the next step in the re-procurement process, the first in nearly 17 years. CCT and our youth advocates provided input during the January 2921 public comment period and released a primer on Medi-Cal managed care and mental health services to inform advocates and increase support.

Levi Deatherage, board member of California Coalition for Youth and CCT Fellow, responded to the DHCS Request for Information back in October 2929, urging the state to involve youth in the process and stating:

"Mandating inclusion of the youth perspective and voice in MCP contracts, epecially to inform MCP partnerships with community-based organizations and schools, is a critical first step." Full response.