(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 790, Sec. 42) by Stats. 2025, Ch. 243, Sec. 13.)

(a) The innovative programs shall have the following purposes:

(1) To increase access to underserved groups.

(2) To increase the quality of services, including better outcomes.

(3) To promote interagency collaboration.

(4) To increase access to services, including, but not limited to, services provided through permanent supportive housing.

(b) All projects included in the innovative program portion of the county plan shall meet the following requirements:

(1) Address one of the following purposes as its primary purpose:

(A) Increase access to underserved groups, which may include providing access through the provision of permanent supportive housing.

(B) Increase the quality of services, including measurable outcomes.

(C) Promote interagency and community collaboration.

(D) Increase access to services, which may include providing access through the provision of permanent supportive housing.

(2) Support innovative approaches by doing one of the following:

(A) Introducing new mental health practices or approaches, including, but not limited to, prevention and early intervention.

(B) Making a change to an existing mental health practice or approach, including, but not limited to, adaptation for a new setting or community.

(C) Introducing a new application to the mental health system of a promising community-driven practice or an approach that has been successful in nonmental health contexts or settings.

(D) Participating in a housing program designed to stabilize a person’s living situation while also providing supportive services on site.

(c) An innovative project may affect virtually any aspect of mental health practices or assess a new or changed application of a promising approach to solving persistent, seemingly intractable mental health challenges, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

(1) Administrative, governance, and organizational practices, processes, or procedures.

(2) Advocacy.

(3) Education and training for service providers, including nontraditional mental health practitioners.

(4) Outreach, capacity building, and community development.

(5) System development.

(6) Public education efforts.

(7) Research. If research is chosen for an innovative project, the county mental health program shall consider, but is not required to implement, research of the brain and its physical and biochemical processes that may have broad applications, but that have specific potential for understanding, treating, and managing mental illness, including, but not limited to, research through the Cal-BRAIN program pursuant to Section 92986 of the Education Code or other collaborative, public-private initiatives designed to map the dynamics of neuron activity.

(8) Services and interventions, including prevention, early intervention, and treatment.

(9) Permanent supportive housing development.

(e) County mental health programs shall expend funds for their innovation programs upon approval by the Behavioral Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.

(f) If amendments to the Mental Health Services Act are approved by the voters at the March 5, 2024, statewide primary election, this section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2026, and as of January 1, 2027, is repealed.