Steinberg Institute

Recently at the 2026 EmPATH Summit in Salt Lake City, our CEO Karen Larsen spoke on what it will take to create a more coordinated behavioral health crisis care system nationwide. She was joined by President Theo Koury and President Tony Cirillo.

Thank you to EmPATH Consulting for hosting this important event!

Today is all about community, connection, and mental health.

We’re proud to join the incredible organizations and advocates working to transform California’s mental health system at in Sacramento.

Stop by our booth on the State Capitol grounds (14th & L) anytime until 1pm. We’d love to connect with you!

Mental health care, homelessness, and public safety have become central to California’s policy agenda over the past several years. As California voters decide who will be their next Governor, the Steinberg Institute, , and partnered to bring these issues to the forefront of this pivotal election.

We sought to interview the eight top-polling candidates for governor on these crucial themes. Four candidates—, ,  and —sat down with 1:1 interviews to answer tough questions about homelessness and mental health policy, including when and how someone should be forced into treatment. 

Watch the segments at steinberginstitute.org/ca-gov

We are excited to announce our first 2026 Steinberg Institute Champion: Section Chief Michael Mason!

When someone in California experiences a mental health or substance use crisis, help usually comes through a 911 call, where they get sent to an emergency department. But emergency departments aren’t always the right place for them to recover. 

What people in crisis need is compassionate, appropriate care in the right setting.

As leader of the San Francisco Fire Department’s Community Paramedicine Division, Michael is helping make that possible for San Franciscans. Community paramedicine is a new approach to crisis response. Instead of defaulting to emergency departments, community paramedics connect people directly to sobering centers, crisis stabilization units, or psychiatric health facilities—settings designed to provide the right care.

As cities across California grapple with rising mental health needs and strained emergency systems, community paramedicine offers a compassionate, on-the-ground solution that reduces unnecessary ER visits and improves outcomes for people in crisis.

Through Michael’s leadership, the San Francisco Fire Department is transforming crisis response into a system grounded in care, dignity, and the belief that people deserve the right support at the right time. We are proud to name him a 2026 Steinberg Institute Champion.

Watch Michael’s powerful video and learn the impactful work being done at SFFD at the link in our bio or stories.

Each week throughout Mental Health Awareness Month we will announce a new Steinberg Institute Champion. The 2026 class is a group of exceptional Californians whose visionary leadership and tireless dedication are transforming the state’s behavioral health landscape.

AB 2138 (Krell) passed out of the Assembly Health Committee 15-1!

AB 2138 would expand the role of Peer Support Specialists across California’s continuum of care—particularly for people with serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders transitioning out of homelessness or incarceration.

Rayshell Chambers, Executive Director of , and Alan Richards, VP of Enhanced Care Management , each offered powerful testimony highlighting the critical role peers play in helping individuals navigate recovery.

We are grateful to the author of AB 2138, and are proud to co-sponsor this legislation alongside .

Today marks five years since Jason Shoultz, our Director of Strategic Partnerships, joined the Institute!

From building meaningful partnerships to shaping how we communicate our work, he’s been instrumental in turning our ideas into impact. Thank you for five years of leadership, collaboration, and dedication—we’re lucky to have you!

California’s behavioral health funding has followed the same pattern for 70 years: boom, bust, repeat.

This cycle leaves counties scrambling to maintain care, and too often, Californians go without the mental health and substance use treatment they need.

How did we get here?

We traced California’s behavioral health funding timeline from the Short-Doyle Act of 1957, mapping the highs, the lows, and the promises left unfulfilled.

This look back at history offers a roadmap for what needs to change. Let’s not let history repeat itself.