Commentary: California Must Protect Mental Health Funding That Centers Our Communities

Sonya Young Aadam | Special to California Black Media Partners 

At California Black Women’s Health Project, we believe a healthier future is possible when women are empowered to make choices in an environment where equal access and health justice are community priorities. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget proposal includes the California Department of Health’s complete elimination of the California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP), a devastating move that would dismantle critical, community-driven mental health programs across the state. This includes our own Sisters Mentally Mobilized – Advocate Training Program, which trains and supports Black women as mental health advocates and change agents in their communities.

Let’s be clear: this funding saves lives. CRDP supports 33 trusted, culturally rooted programs led by and for Black, Latinx, LGBTQ+, AAPI, and Native communities — populations most often excluded from and neglected by traditional mental health systems. Stripping these resources away sends a painful message: Our healing, our leadership, and our lives are not valued.

When the system fails us, we lean on each other. That’s what the CRDP makes possible, and that is now at risk. The outcome would be devastating to communities already crippled by mental health disparities and limited resources.

Now is not the time to disinvest from the mental health of our communities. We are calling on our state leaders to uphold California’s commitment to health equity and mental health disparities reduction by restoring this funding and protecting the vital work of community-based organizations like ours and the many others making a continuous impact in our communities.

Because when Black women are well, families are stronger. Communities thrive. And California moves closer to the just, inclusive future we all deserve.

About the Author 

Sonya Young Aadam is the CEO of the California Black Women’s Health Project.