California voters have approved a ballot measure that aims to address the state's homelessness crisis and transform mental healthcare, NPR reported March 21.
Proposition 1 is a combination of two bills that would fund the modernization of California's mental health system, marking the first update to the system in two decades. The final count on the approval comes over two weeks after the California primary on March 5.
Senate Bill 326 will update the Mental Health Services Act to expand services and increase resources, while Assembly Bill 531 will designate $6.38 billion to build 10,000 new treatment beds and supportive housing units to serve over 100,000 California residents.
The proposition will require counties to spend roughly "two-thirds of the money from a voter-approved tax enacted in 2004 on millionaires for mental health services on housing and programs for homeless people with serious mental illnesses or substance abuse problems," the report said.
It will also allow California to borrow $6.38 billion to build 6,800 mental health and addiction treatment beds and 4,350 housing units, with half of the housing units being reserved for veterans.