CA mental health phone line faces steep budget cuts

As California grapples with a $12 billion budget deficit, that state’s peer-run phone service that provides free 24/7 mental health support to thousands of residents across the state could face deep funding cuts, or even a shutdown.

The California Peer Run Warm Line — which is different from 911 and the federal 988 mental health crisis line because it is intended for non-emergencies — receives an average of 20,000 calls, texts and chats a month from people seeking emotional support and mental health resources. In May, during mental Mental Health Awareness Month, the line received more than 40,000 calls and messages.

The Mental Health Association of San Francisco, or MHASF, oversees the line. It received funding in 2019 during the pandemic to expand its services statewide. From 2022 to 2025, the line operated on a total budget of $40 million, says CEO Mark Salazar. For the next three years, it has requested $15 million a year in renewed funding, or $45 million through 2028 — with most of the money going towards paying personnel.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest budget plan, however, allocates $5 million in 2025-26 and beyond for the line. Because the funding wasn’t initially included in the governor’s January budget proposal, the money “reflects an increase,” according to Newsom spokesperson Elana Ross.

But with an annual budget of $5 million, Salazar says the service may have to cut its staff from 160 to 20. The phone service estimates that it saves Californians millions of dollars in health care costs by reducing callers’ visits to the emergency room or urgent care, while also freeing up resources for emergency responders.

Lori Padilla, a Central Valley resident who has worked at the line as a counselor for more than two years, says most calls during her overnight shift are from people who are experiencing loneliness, anxiety, panic attacks or chronic pain. 

• Padilla: “I actually called the warm line a couple of times and went to the support groups at MHASF. The two together really changed my life. … It was just so refreshing to have someone on the other end of the phone that cared and actually listened.”

The line’s funding woes come during a time when California police departments are scaling back their own responses to mental health crisis calls. In addition to the state budget shortfall, California mental health services are in jeopardy due to Congress’ proposal to gut Medicaid spending by $700 billion.

In a special election that underscores the culture wars roiling among some California cities, voters in Huntington Beach will decide next week whether to keep its newly formed citizen committee to review library books, writes CalMatters’ Alexei Koseff.

In 2023 Huntington Beach’s city council created a review board that would screen library books for explicit and sexual content. Led by councilmember Gracey Van Der Mark, who is also running for state Assembly, the self-proclaimed “MAGA-nificent 7” members of the city council said the board would protect children from offensive content.

But critics argue that Van Der Mark targeted material related to the LGBTQ+ community. They championed a pair of ballot measures that, if passed, would roll back library restrictions. By late May, both sides poured more than $230,000 total in campaigning.

• Erin Spivey, a former Huntington Beach librarian who quit because of city interventions: “It’s just so disheartening to see our city council turn this city against itself. People are getting really sick and tired of the city council overstepping what they are supposed to be doing. They’re supposed to be making our community better.”

Read more here.

When the governor vetoes a bill, that typically means the proposal is dead for good. But some measures keep coming back again and again. 

As CalMatters’ Ryan Sabalow explains, of the more than 2,000 bills introduced this year, at least 80 of them are “zombie bills” — legislation that is similar or identical to ones Newsom or other governors spiked in previous years. About a quarter of those 80 were backed by either labor or business groups.

Though these bills add to the large number of measures legislators must wade through during each session, experts say it’s not necessarily a bad thing that bills are revived. Some ideas take time to gain political traction, and reintroducing proposals is one way to keep the conversation going.

Assembly Bill 33, backed by the Teamsters union, is one such example of a current zombie bill. It would ban California companies from deploying driverless trucks, and it’s being reconsidered by the Legislature after Newsom vetoed it last year. 

• Peter Finn, the Western region vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters: “We’re right on this issue. The only person that’s wrong on this issue is the governor, and just because one person is choosing Big Tech over people and drivers doesn’t mean we should stop pursuing this issue.”

Read more here.

State Farm secured approval for an emergency interim rate hike after citing major wildfire losses. CalMatters’ Levi Sumagaysay and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on what this means for customers as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

And check out another video from CalMatters’ Marisa Kendall and Robert about a state Senate bill that would push Caltrans to work more closely with California cities on clearing homeless encampments. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.