EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Starting next week, California voters will start receiving their ballots in the mail. The only measure that Californians will see in the primary election is Proposition 1.

Proposition 1 looks to allocate billions of dollars for mental health services to help those suffering from serious mental illness and substance abuse disorders.

Supporters view Proposition 1 as a lifeline to those living on the streets and to the families who have worked hard to help their loved one’s get the needed treatment.

“Prop. 1 might not be perfect, but it’s really the best that we have right now to move forward at tackling a very complex issue,” Jennifer Gray said.

Less than three years ago, Gray’s son Eli, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia while studying at MIT, died on the streets of Oakland after getting hit by a truck.

“Eli was a brilliant young man,” Gray said. “And no matter how smart you are, if schizophrenia comes to get you, you can’t do anything about it. You need outside help. You can’t do it on your own.”

Gray said Eli started experiencing delusion and paranoia while in college. Eventually, he moved back to the Bay Area after withdrawing from classes his sophomore year.

“It was hard to get help for him because he didn’t think anything was wrong,” Gray said. “He eventually did go see a therapist at Kaiser. He got some limited help, but he wouldn’t take medication, so he couldn’t really get well.” 

Gray was one of dozens of parents and family members who shared stories at the California State Capitol on Wednesday about their loved ones’ challenges with serious mental illness. They all gathered in support of the proposition.

Proposition 1 seeks to update California’s Mental Health Services Act from 2004 to include services for people with addiction as well as mental illness. It would also provide 10,000 new behavioral health beds through a $6.4 billion bond.

“We had a peak — 37,000 beds in the state of California in the ‘60s. Today it’s about 5,500. I just think that’s a remarkable number that sums up so much of the history here,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a virtual press conference Wednesday.

The proposition would also allocate $2 billion to create supportive housing for homeless veterans and individuals at-risk of becoming homeless.

Last year, the measure passed through the legislature with bipartisan support and was backed by the governor.

“The piece of the puzzle that’s missing is the incredible importance of having a stabilization unit, having a physical unit to bring someone so you can provide that wraparound service, and that’s the biggest impediment to all the other reforms,” Newsom said.

But not everyone is in support of Proposition 1, as multiple mental health advocacy groups are opposing the measure.

Karen Vicari, interim director of public policy at Mental Health America of California, is concerned the bond measure could cut funding for community-based mental health services.

Proposition 1 would direct a portion of funds allocated for counties to the state, which could lead to services being eliminated at the county level. It would also require counties to redirect mental health dollars to housing services.

Vicari is also concerned about the speed at which the changes are happening. She wants more research into where the money that’s been spent by the state to solve the mental health crisis before spending billions more.

“The solution is to go slower, to do the analysis. There was supposed to be a homeless audit that has never been completed. We need to do that,” Vicari said. “We need to find out what’s going wrong. We need to get everyone around the table to design a ballot measure that’s written to succeed.” 

When it comes to the portion of Proposition 1 that targets helping homeless veterans, Vicari said California needs to focus more broadly.

“It’s frustrating because it feels very political to us,” she said. “I heard there’s an ad about veterans. [Newsom is] touting how he’s helping veterans. But interestingly, the bond portion of the measure only gives $2 billion for permanent housing, $1 billion of that is for veterans, but veterans only comprise 6% of our unhoused population.”

Working in tandem with Proposition 1 is SB 43, which was signed into last year. The new law expands the definition of gravely disabled to get more people to undergo forced treatment for mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Many counties in California have opted to delay implementation of SB 43 until 2026, something many of the parents who attended the rally at the capitol criticized.

At the rally, the Proposition 1 supporters marched to the County Behavioral Health Directors Association building to voice their opposition for the delayed implementation. 

“Think of all the death and suffering that can be averted if SB 43 goes into effect immediately,” said Linda Mimms, vice chair of the Schizophrenia and Psychosis Action Alliance.

The County Behavioral Health Directors Association released the following statement regarding the implementation of SB 43, highlighting how the state legislature approved the delay in order to give counties time to prepare: “Our statewide organizations are working closely with our member counties to develop the new legal frameworks that this law will require. This thoughtful and coordinated approach will help counties meet their implementation deadline and ensure the quality of services Californians with severe mental illness and substance use disorders deserve.”

Expanding the definition of gravely disabled is something Gray believes could have helped her son, Eli.

“It was a very sad ending, and he’s an example of someone who needed to be treated against his will because that’s why he died. He wouldn’t get treated on his own and he was very ill,” Gray said.

The grieving mother is hopeful more funding will help lead people in similar situations to her son’s get the support they need.

According to the Secretary of State’s office, ballot drop-off locations will open on Feb. 6. Vote centers for early in-person voting will open on Feb. 24. The last day to cast a ballot for California’s primary election is March 5.