State Mental Health Chief Seeks Overhaul of Care System in California
In a recent interview with California Healthline, the state’s “mental health czar,” Thomas Insel, expressed concerns with the current fragmentation of the Medi-Cal behavioral health system and the lack of coordination and continuity of care that this fragmentation creates. Insel also described the system as “crisis-driven” and called for increased efforts to achieve early detection of and intervention against mental health and substance use problems. “The biggest transformation will come when we can identify problems and intervene earlier…We have to manage crisis better, keep people out of the criminal justice system, provide more continuity of care. But we also have to move upstream and capture people much earlier in their journey.” (Insel)
