Evaluation of California's Statewide Mental Health Prevention and Early Intervention Initiatives

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The California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) is a coalition of county governments working to improve mental health outcomes for the state's individuals, families, and communities.

CalMHSA has implemented prevention and early intervention programs to reduce negative outcomes for people experiencing mental illness. Initially, these programs spanned three strategic initiatives:

  • stigma and discrimination reduction
  • suicide prevention
  • student mental health.

While these three initiatives remain important areas of focus, the structure of the programs now reflects a more integrated approach.

The RAND Corporation, a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis, continues to evaluate this statewide initiative.

RAND researchers are collaborating with program partner organizations to

  • evaluate program partner progress toward meeting statewide objectives
  • assess activities implemented and resources created by program partners
  • evaluate program outcomes:
    • the number of people exposed to program materials, services, social marketing messages, and training
    • attitudes and knowledge about mental illness, behavior toward people with mental illness (short term)
    • reduced suicide, reduced discrimination, improved student performance (long term).

For information on RAND's findings, please see our publications page.