CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

CHAPTER 87

Statutes of 2025

Introduced by Assembly Member Quirk-Silva

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Ahrens, Alanis, Ávila Farías, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Caloza, Castillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, DeMaio, Dixon, Elhawary, Ellis, Fong, Gabriel, Garcia, Gipson, Mark González, Hadwick, Haney, Harabedian, Hart, Hoover, Kalra, Krell, Lackey, Lee, Lowenthal, Macedo, McKinnor, Muratsuchi, Nguyen, Pacheco, Papan, Patel, Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Ramos, Ransom, Rivas, Michelle Rodriguez, Rogers, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Schiavo, Schultz, Sharp-Collins, Solache, Soria, Stefani, Ta, Tangipa, Valencia, Ward, Wicks, Wilson, and Zbur)

January 30, 2025

Relative to Mental Health Peer Appreciation Week.

Fiscal committee: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

This bill would recognize the 3rd week of May 2025 as Mental Health Peer Appreciation Week in California.

WHEREAS, Peers, individuals living with mental or behavioral health challenges, possess the unique understanding and empathy, or lived experience, to encourage, engage, and support other peers on their journey to recovery, health, and wellness; and

WHEREAS, Peers can leverage their lived experience to inform local, state, and federal decisionmakers on how policies and legislation impact the availability of, and timely access to, mental and behavioral health services and supports; and

WHEREAS, There is a need to increase peer civic engagement in order to ensure that decisionmakers have the insights necessary to make people-centered, informed decisions, understanding how these decisions affect the lives of countless adults, children, adolescents, and families within the health and human services industry; and

WHEREAS, Peer voices are vital to developing a more just and robust continuum of care in California, as the state transforms its behavioral health care system and implements the Behavioral Health Services Act; and

WHEREAS, California is facing a behavioral health workforce shortage, and peers can become certified Medi-Cal peer support specialists and work with county behavioral health agencies to help close the gap in access to services and supports; and

WHEREAS, Medi-Cal peer support specialists are trained providers who use their lived experience to engage peers using the recovery model and the principles and values of peer support to provide hope and support and to be a role model of recovery; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby recognizes the third week of May 2025, during National Mental Health Awareness Month, as Mental Health Peer Appreciation Week in California; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.