Position Category: Senate Bill

May 19^th, 2025

Marc Berman
Chair, Assembly Committee on Business and Professions
1020 N Street, Room 379
Sacramento, CA 95814

Angelique Ashby
Chair, Senate Committee on Business, Professions, and Economic Development 
1021 O Street, Room 3320
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Joint Sunset Review – Board of Psychology – Exception to Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege for Board Investigations—OPPOSE

Dear Chair Berman and Chair Ashby,   

Mental Health America of California (MHAC) would like to express opposition to the California Board of Psychology’s proposed exception to the psychotherapist-patient privilege in Board investigations (Proposal #1 of Section 10 of the Sunset Review Report, page 97) and request that proposal not move forward. The proposal would establish a psychotherapist-patient privilege exception for Board investigations.

MHAC is a peer-run organization leading the state in behavioral health public policy and advocacy since 1957. The mission of MHAC is to assist and encourage communities, families and individuals to experience hope, wellness and recovery from mental health and substance use disorder issues. The people and communities we aim to serve include those of all ages; sexual orientation, gender identity or expression; language, racial and ethnic backgrounds, national origin, and immigration status; spirituality and religious affiliations; or socioeconomic status. Our communities rely on the expectation of privacy when accessing mental health care.

Currently, if a patient refuses to disclose records in a Board investigation, the Board has recourse to obtain the records through a subpoena and obtain a civil court order to enforce the subpoena. This ensures that the Board demonstrates compelling interest that the disclosure of such records is relevant and material to the issue. This court process offers the Board an avenue to obtain records while upholding the psychotherapist’s duty to patient privilege and protecting the patient’s constitutional right to privacy.

Confidentiality is essential to successful psychotherapy because it allows for open dialogue between the Psychologist and the patient on extremely personal and sensitive issues. Patients rely on the expectation of privacy every time they attend a therapy session, and without the guarantee of privacy, patients will be less likely to be forthcoming with their therapist and possibly be less likely to seek care.

In addition, this proposal has the potential to severely undermine the quality and effectiveness of psychotherapy. If Psychotherapists fear that their client records could be seized without proper protections, this could result in less than accurate and potentially reductive work products.

The Board has reported that over the last four years it has had to close only three cases due to an inability to access records. The low number of cases being closed does not provide any significant or compelling arguments for a psychotherapist-patient privilege exception. It is for these reasons that MHAC asks you not to move forward with the Board’s proposal. If you have any questions, or if MHAC can provide any assistance on this issue or any behavioral health legislation, please do not hesitate to contact me at hstrunk@mhac.org or our Director of Public Policy, Karen Vicari, at kvicari@mhaofca.org. 

In Community,   

Heidi L. Strunk   

President & CEO 

Cc:       Honorable Members, Assembly Business and Professions Committee
Honorable Members, Senate Business and Professions and Economic Development Committee
Kaitlin Curry, Consultant, Assembly Business and Professions Committee
Anna Billy, Consultant, Senate Business and Professions and Economic Development Committee

September 16^th, 2025

The Honorable Gavin Newsom
California State Governor
1021 O Street, Suite 9000
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Request for Signature of SB 306 (Becker)

Dear Governor Newsom,   

Mental Health America of California (MHAC) is pleased to support Senate Bill 306 (Becker), legislation that would exempt commonly approved healthcare services from requiring prior authorization.

MHAC is a peer-run organization leading the state in behavioral health public policy and advocacy since 1957. The mission of MHAC is to assist and encourage communities, families and individuals to experience hope, wellness and recovery from mental health and substance use disorder issues through voluntary services that are delivered in their local community with compassion and respect for everyone’s dignity and autonomy.

Commonly covered mental health and substance use services include various forms of therapy, counseling. and medication management. This bill ensures that health plans that approve 90% or more of prior authorization requests for a given service in the previous year must exempt that service from prior authorization for the following year. This will help streamline access to commonly utilized mental health and substance use services and ensure more timely care.

It is for these reasons that MHAC supports SB 306 (Becker) and asks for your signature. If you have any questions, or if MHAC can provide any assistance on this bill or any behavioral health legislation, please do not hesitate to contact me at kvicari@mhac.org or our Public Policy Coordinator, Danny Thirakul, at dthirakul@mhac.org.  

 In Community, 

Karen Vicari
Director of Public Policy
Mental Health America of California

April 22^nd, 2025

The Honorable Jesse Arreguín
Senate Public Safety Committee
1020 N Street, Room 545
Sacramento, CA 95814

RE: Support for Senate Bill 691 (Wahab)

Dear Chair Arreguín,   

Mental Health America of California (MHAC) is pleased to support Senate Bill 691 (Wahab), legislation that would require guidance to law enforcement personnel who wear body-worn cameras to limit the recording of medical or psychological evaluations, procedures, or treatment that may cause embarrassment or humiliation to the patient. The bill would also require a procedure for emergency service personnel to request the redaction of evidentiary recordings of a patient undergoing medical or psychological evaluation, procedure, or treatment.

MHAC is a peer-run organization leading the state in behavioral health public policy and advocacy since 1957. The mission of MHAC is to assist and encourage communities, families and individuals to experience hope, wellness and recovery from mental health and substance use disorder issues through voluntary services that are delivered in their local community with compassion and respect for everyone’s dignity and autonomy. The types of services and supports individuals receive during a mental health crisis require trust, rapport with providers, and an assurance of confidentiality.

People experiencing a mental health crisis are often in an immensely vulnerable, isolating, and sometimes life-threatening situation. In the event an individual must be forced into treatment, their right to privacy must be prioritized and upheld. Furthermore, recordings and sharable videos of individuals without their consent during moments of crisis may be used to further inflame and stigmatize individuals during assessments or conservatorship investigations. These potentially singular moments of crisis should not be used to define the entirety of an individual’s journey towards wellness.

MHAC is committed to reducing stigma and empowering individuals to seek and accept support and services for mental health challenges. A moment of crisis should not define them or prohibit their ability to establish a path towards recovery that works for them. It is for these reasons MHAC supports SB 691 (Wahab) and asks for your “Aye” vote. If you have any questions, or if MHAC can provide any assistance on this bill or any behavioral health legislation, please do not hesitate to contact me at hstrunk@mhac.org or our Director of Public Policy, Karen Vicari, at kvicari@mhaofca.org. 

In Community,   

Heidi L. Strunk   
President & CEO 

April 4^th, 2025

The Honorable Caroline Menjivar
Senate Health Committee
1021 O Street, Room 3310
Sacramento , CA 95814

RE: OPPOSE Senate Bill 367 (Allen)

Dear Chair Menjivar,   

Mental Health America of California (MHAC) respectfully opposes Senate Bill 367 (Allen), which would expand Lanterman Petris Short (LPS) Act involuntary commitment and conservatorship statutes by: 1) Requiring information about the historical course of a person’s medical, psychological, educational, social, financial, and legal conditions to be included in the assessment for an involuntary hold; 2) Authorizing conservatorships for people who have accepted voluntary care; and 3) Expanding the list of individuals or entities that can recommend conservatorship. These expansions of current law will risk infringing on peoples’ civil rights by inappropriately increasing conservatorships.  

MHAC is a peer-run organization leading the state in behavioral health public policy and advocacy since 1957. The mission of MHAC is to assist and encourage communities, families and individuals to experience hope, wellness and recovery from mental health and substance use disorder issues through voluntary services that are delivered in their local community with compassion and respect for everyone’s dignity and autonomy. In accordance with our mission, MHAC supports increasing the availability of voluntary, accessible, culturally responsive, community-based services.

MHAC is opposed to SB 367 for the following reasons:

Requiring information about the historical course of a person’s medical, psychological, educational, social, financial, and legal conditions to be included in the assessment for an involuntary hold is an egregious and inappropriate expansion of involuntary commitment statute. Current law requires information on the historical course of a person’s mental disorder be considered only if it is determined that the information has a “reasonable bearing” on whether the individual meets criteria for involuntary treatment. Furthermore, current statute specifies limited sources of the historical information.[1] In contrast, SB 367 requires information on the historical course of a broad range of factors that are not relevant to an immediate mental health crisis, including educational, social, financial, and legal. We struggle to understand how the historical course of an individual’s education, for example, bears on their potential status as currently gravely disabled. Requiring this information in assessments risks wrongful involuntary commitments based on bias and prejudice rather than immediate mental health needs, and threatens the privacy of the individual. Furthermore, by not limiting or specifying the sources of this information, the bill would create excessive burdens on evaluation staff who are now required to collect this historical information.

Allowing conservatorships for individuals who have “demonstrated an inability to follow through with stated plans of self-care” is untenably broad and will likely result in wrongful conservatorships. Self-care is a term that can encompass a wide range of activities, including simple things like getting outside, getting enough sleep, meditating, etc.. Moreover, “stated plans” is a vague term that implies an unwritten expression of self-care goals.

Conservatorships remove individuals’ rights, autonomy and self-determination and should only be used when absolutely necessary and only after significant evaluation of the individual’s mental health. SB 326 expands authority to recommend conservatorships to a judicial officer, a treating physician or an emergency physician. These individuals are not likely to have sufficient knowledge of an individual’s mental health history to make an accurate conservatorship recommendation, which runs the risk of inappropriately increasing unnecessary conservatorships.

It is for these reasons MHAC is opposed to SB 326 (Allen). If you have any questions, or if MHAC can provide any assistance on this bill or any behavioral health legislation, please do not hesitate to contact me at hstrunk@mhac.org or our Director of Public Policy, Karen Vicari, at kvicari@mhaofca.org. 

In Community,   

Heidi L. Strunk   
President & CEO 

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[1] California Welfare & Institutions Code Section 5150.05

June 24^th, 2025

The Honorable Mia Bonta
Assembly Health Committee
1020 N Street, Room 390
Sacramento, CA 95814 

RE: Support for Senate Bill 418 (Menjivar) 

Dear Chair, 

Mental Health America of California (MHAC) is pleased to support Senate Bill 418 (Menjivar), a bill that would prohibit discrimination or a denial of benefits from a health plan or insurer based on race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex with specific protections for the LGBTQ+ community.  

MHAC is a peer-run organization leading the state in behavioral health public policy and advocacy since 1957. The mission of MHAC is to assist and encourage communities, families and individuals to experience hope, wellness and recovery from mental health and substance use disorder issues through voluntary services that are delivered in their local community with compassion and respect for everyone’s dignity and autonomy. 

As healthcare institutions face increasing scrutiny from the federal administration for providing gender-affirming care, denials of such care are expected to rise unless specific protections are established. These denials include limiting access to essential services and adopting policies that restrict or exclude the LGBTQ+ community from receiving gender-affirming care. 

This bill strengthens protections for the LGBTQ+ population by explicitly defining discrimination based on sex to include sex characteristics, pregnancy and related conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex stereotypes. Ensuring access to gender-affirming care is critical for the well-being of transgender individuals, as it provides access to necessary medical, mental health, and substance use services and supports. According to The Trevor Project, there has been a 72% increase in suicide attempts among transgender youth due to the rise in anti-transgender laws.[1] These laws attempt to erase the existence of the transgender community by denying access to direct services and critical care.

Everyone deserves access to essential services and support. It is for these reasons MHAC supports Senate Bill 418 (Menjivar) and asks for your “Aye” vote. If you have any questions, or if MHAC can provide any assistance on this bill or any behavioral health legislation, please do not hesitate to contact me at kvicari@mhaofca.org or our Public Policy Coordinator, Danny Thirakul, at dthirakul@mhac.org.

In Community, 

Karen Vicari
Director of Public Policy
Mental Health America of California

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[1] News, T. (2025a, February 11). Anti-transgender laws cause up to 72% increase in suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth, study shows. The Trevor Project.