Sacramento, CA – California State Assemblymember Sade Elhawary (D-South Los Angeles) introduced her first piece of legislation today, Assembly Bill 37, to address the need to improve mental health services for our unhoused neighbors, especially schoolkids and their families.
“During my campaign, I spoke to hundreds of families who struggle to understand why our government cannot do more to help our unhoused neighbors obtain mental health treatment, which they see as a main hurdle to addressing our state’s crisis,” says Elhawary. “My goal with this intent bill is to organize all interested parties in a discussion with a goal to aggressively research the hurdles we still face and identify policy or regulatory solutions in providing this essential service.”
Areas of research that Elhawary intends to focus on includes but is not limited to the following:
- Due to low reimbursement rates, many medical and behavioral health professionals choose not to treat the unhoused population. What incentives would appeal to attract more medical and behavioral health professionals to treat this population?
- Due to limited logistical access, what services are needed to ensure privacy and confidentiality when treating our unhoused population?
If you are an advocate working on this policy issue, please contact Elhawary’s office to share information, research, or ideas on potential policy solutions.
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Assemblymember Elhawary is a founder of the Nelson Mandela School for Social Justice, where she shaped the curriculum and mentored the first graduating class. As an organizer for 12 years at Community Coalition, Elhawary recruited and trained future leaders of the social justice movement. She holds a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a master’s from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is a proud foster parent to Makailah and lives in South Los Angeles.
