Proposition 1 is the linchpin to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s answer to California’s homelessness and psychological well being disaster.
The measure asks voters to approve main modifications to the state’s 20-year-old Psychological Well being Providers Act to higher serve Californians with substance use problems. A “sure” vote on the measure would additionally approve a $6.4-billion bond to construct services to supply 10,000 new remedy beds.
State lawmakers handed the plan final yr to position the measure on the March 5 main poll. The uncommon bipartisan help on the Capitol speaks to actuality that the issue stretches to each nook of California.
About 181,000 folks statewide, together with 75,000 in Los Angeles County, are homeless, in accordance with 2023 counts. As a lot as 82% of unhoused people have skilled a severe psychological well being situation, and practically two-thirds have sooner or later usually used illicit medication, in accordance with a current survey by UC San Francisco.
