Governor Newsom proclaims Mental Health Awareness Month

PROCLAMATION

During Mental Health Awareness Month, we recognize the millions of Californians living with mental health conditions. We also recognize the invaluable role mental health care plays in every Californian’s life. Mental health care is health care and is critical to our overall well-being.  

But mental health care has gone unaddressed and underprioritized for far too long. One in five U.S. adults experiences mental illness each year, and more than half do not receive care. After state hospitals shuttered in the 1960s with an unfulfilled promise of more community-based care, prisons and jails became the de facto mental hospitals. Suicide rates are on the rise, with Native people, men, veterans, and members of the LGBTQ community experiencing disproportionately high rates.

California is revolutionizing mental health care, finally fulfilling the promise of the 1960s – with an over $6 billion Behavioral Health Bond to build 11,150 new treatment beds and housing units and 26,700 outpatient treatment slots for homeless people with serious mental illness, kids with depression, and everyone in between. We’ve transformed the Mental Health Services Act to support those with substance use disorders and behavioral health needs, including through nearly $1 billion annually proposed for housing supports and services. We created CARE Court, a nation-leading model to provide care and services to people with untreated, severe mental illnesses, like schizophrenia. We’ve modernized the conservatorship system to make it a more effective, last resort tool to ensure people get the help they need.

But we’re also committed to preventative care and conversation before mental health conditions hit a crisis point. California’s Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health has increased access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment services for kids, parents, and communities. We have created resources and support systems for people from all walks of life.

The next critical step is recognizing when these tools are needed and using them as appropriate. Mental Health Awareness Month is an opportunity to check in with themselves and with their loved ones, to assess and talk about their mental health. I urge all Californians to learn about what help and support is available at mentalhealth.ca.gov.

NOW THEREFORE I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim May 2025 as “Mental Health Awareness Month.”

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 14th day of May 2025.

GAVIN NEWSOM
Governor of California

ATTEST:
SHIRLEY N. WEBER, Ph.D.
Secretary of State