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Behavioral Health Releases Project Evaluation Report for MHSA Innovation Round Three (FY 2018-2022).

Author: Landon J. King
Date: 12/30/2022 9:47:40 AM

The Behavioral Health Department is excited to publish an evaluation of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)-funded Innovation projects for the fiscal years of 2018-2022. The evaluation was conducted by faculty and students from the Master of Public Policy program at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) at San Luis Obispo.

The Mental Health Services Act Innovation component allows counties the opportunity to test new models and practices that address service gaps and other problems within the local mental health system. These projects are short-term (typically 4 years) and require extensive community input, data collection, and a thorough evaluation.

An Innovation project is designed primarily to contribute to learning, rather than providing a service.  The County opted to partner with a local institution of higher education as an objective third party to examine the efficacy and results of these two projects:

  • 3-By-3 Developmental Screening Partnership – Facilitated by First 5 of San Luis Obispo, this project tested multiple methods of administering developmental screening tools to young children at local pediatric offices.  The learning objective was to examine preferences for various delivery methods of screening tools in an effort to increase interest from pediatricians, parents, and guardians.
  • SLOACCEPTance – Facilitated by Cal Poly and Dr. Jay Bettergarcia, this project tested a unique curriculum and training program to increase LGBTQ+ cultural competency for mental health professionals.  The learning objective was to examine the impact of the training on clinician’s effectiveness and willingness to work with the LGBTQ+ community in a mental health setting.

Cal Poly's Master of Public Policy program was awarded a contract with the County to conduct this evaluation and over the past year has interviewed program participants, reviewed program data, and made recommendations for projects going forward.

The Innovation Evaluation is available here:  MHSA-INN-Evaluation-Report-2018-2022.pdf (ca.gov)