Alameda County Mental Health Services Act – Prop 63 / Special Projects
HHREC is consistently called upon as a valuable resource in assisting with projects that support Prop 63-The Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). HHREC Special projects may include coordinating targeted outreach on behalf of county administrators, convening and facilitating focus groups, and creating outdoor media campaigns. HHREC provides hands on support to facilitate planning committees for conferences and symposiums. Recent conferences have included Alameda County’s Mental Health Technology Conference, MHSA’s Young Men Of Color Webinars, MHSA ACBH’s Community Listening Sessions, and Annual Community Input Surveys.
This diagram shows the spectrum of MHSA services from prevention through treatment and recovery.
What is the Mental Health Services Act?
More than two million Californians are affected by potentially disabling mental illnesses every year.
To address this, in 2004 voters passed Proposition 63, now known as the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). It places a 1 percent tax on personal income above $1 million. MHSA was designed to expand and transform the mental health system, while improving the quality of life for people living with mental health challenges. Consumers and their families were partners in the process, from drafting the MHSA to campaigning for its passage.
MHSA funds effective treatment, prevention and early intervention, outreach support services, and family involvement programs to increase access and reduce inequities for unserved, underserved, and inappropriately served populations.
MHSA Core Values
MHSA Community Forums
The MHSA Forums are a safe space for BIPOC to come together and discuss issues and challenges facing the community. The MHSA program manager also helps with the annual ACBH Mental Health Technology Conference and community listening sessions.
A Sample of Past Community Forums
Young Men of Color
Topic: Mental Health During the Pandemic
A Conversation About Health and Wellness
A Virtual Conversation About Healing From Trauma and PTSD
How to Handle a Stressful Environment as a Young Person of Color
Leadership and Professional Development
Attitude. Appearance. Ownership.
Office of Peer Support
HHREC assists the Office of Peer Support, formerly the Peers Organizing Community Change/Pool of Consumer Champions.
The Mission of the Office of Peer Support is to improve the quality of life for Alameda County residents who have mental health or mental health and substance use issues, in whatever settings they find themselves, and to provide the consumer perspective in Transforming Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services to a recovery vision that is consumer-driven, culturally responsive, and holistic in its services and supports. The Office of Peer Support provides an empowered and informed voice: of, by, and for consumers in the behavioral health care system, related systems, and in the community.
Stories of Success
These stories highlight some of the ways Mental Health Service Act (MHSA) funding is improving the quality of life for Alameda County residents who live with a mental illness.
Khantane Jackson
I am The Prince of Hearts. Love has always been the current that has carried me throughout my life. When I think of the question “Who am I”, nowadays the first thing that comes to my heart is love. I [...]
Nancy Nguyen
My name is Nancy Nguyen and I come from a Vietnamese immigrant family. I grew up in a town called Perris in southern California. Currently, I am studying integrative biology and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Ultimately, [...]
Lupita Martinez
My name is Lupita Martinez and I'm from East Oakland CA. I was born in the city of San Francisco, but I grew up in Oakland and Fruitvale. I'm half Mexican, a quarter Salvadorian, and a quarter Nicaraguan. I have [...]
Maria Guadalupe Zaragoza Barajas
My name is Maria Guadalupe Zaragoza Barajas, and I am an immigrant from Mexico. In 2010, my family moved to California, to escape a world of poverty, violence, and no education. I have lived in all parts of the Bay [...]
Sara Rosenblatt
My name is Sara Rosenblatt, I’m currently a UC Berkeley student living in Berkeley. I was born in Annapolis Maryland, lived in Dallas Texas for 6 years, and moved near Sacramento (Roseville specifically) in 2011. This is my second year [...]
Samu Tiavolo
Samu Tiavolo is a seventeen-year-old from Hayward, CA. He is currently a senior at Mt. Eden High School. He is the ASB Secretary, Polynesian Club president, and has served in his school leadership program for all four years of high [...]
Robert Williams, Program Manager of MHSA – Prop 63 & Special Projects
My name is Robert Williams and a little bit about me, growing up in the heart of San Francisco as a young latino boy, the mission district was where I grew up. I have had academic and mental health challenges affect my life in various ways such as; probation, foster care, and incarceration. I am now a young man of color who is the MHSA Program Manager at Health & Human Resource Education Center giving back to the county of Alameda
I have been integrated at a young age into different workforce programs such as Horizon’s Unlimited, BACR, CHALK, Ashland Reach Youth Center, Youth Uprising, and the Youth Employment Program. Moving around San Francisco to moving into Oakland has enabled me to learn how to maneuver and work in diverse environments across the Inner Bay-Area
Working alongside my supportive systems, I have over 10 years of personal, professional, and administrative experience when it comes to servicing at risk, level 5, and youth of color from all backgrounds. What drives me to do this kind of work is how I grew up, how I want to change the perspective, and to see change in my communities I have grown up in and have serviced.
I am the living proof that with the right guidance and supportive development, you can successfully create a healthy, striving, and uplifting young person through the non-profit model. My ultimate goal is to reach as many participants as I can to change their perspective on a positive outlook on life.
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