By: Héctor Hernández-Delgado and Carly Myers
Executive Summary
California’s Behavioral Health Community-Based Organized Networks of Equitable Care and Treatment (BH-CONNECT) demonstration, approved in late 2024, seeks to help low-income individuals navigate an increasingly complex behavioral health system. The program is an important tool in the State’s fights against the mental health and substance misuse crises. The demonstration includes various initiatives that allow California to use federal Medicaid funding to test innovative programs in order to address ongoing issues with access to behavioral health care. This issue brief (the first of a 2-part series) summarizes the services available through the initiative’s main components and the current state of implementation.
