Committees

CalHHS committees bring together partners, experts, and stakeholders to advise and support the Agency’s work on health and human services priorities across California.

Behavioral Health Task Force

The Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative was announced in July 2021 with a $4.4B investment to enhance, expand and redesign the systems that support behavioral health for children and youth.

The goal of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative is to reimagine mental health and emotional well-being for ALL children, youth, and families in California by delivering equitable, appropriate, timely and accessible behavioral health services and supports.

The Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative will be the combined effort of the California Department of Health Care Services, California Department of Health Care Access and Information, California Department of Managed Health Care, California Department of Public Health, and Office of Surgeon General in partnership with other CalHHS departments, State agencies and a wide range of stakeholders, with coordination provided by CalHHS.

For more information, visit the Children and Youth Behavioral Health webpage.

California Child Welfare Council

The California Child Welfare Council was established by the Child Welfare Leadership and Accountability Act of 2006 (Welfare and Institutions Code Sections 16540 – 16545), and serves as an advisory body responsible for improving the collaboration and processes of the multiple agencies and the courts that serve the children in the child welfare system. The Council is co-chaired by the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency and the designee of the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, and membership is comprised of state departments, county departments, nonprofit service providers, advocates, parents and former foster youth. The Council is charged with monitoring and reporting on the extent to which the agencies and courts are responsive to the needs of children in their joint care.

More about the California Child Welfare Council ▸

California Elder & Disability Justice Coordinating Council

The goal of this coordinating council is to increase coordination and develop recommendations to prevent and address the abuse, neglect, exploitation, and fraud perpetrated against older adults and adults with disabilities. The California Health & Human Services Agency, supported by the Department of Aging and Department of Social Services, in partnership with the Department of Justice, will convene this coordinating council comprised of leaders from governmental, advocacy, and community organizations across the state.

More about the Elder & Disability Justice Coordinating Council ▸

CARE Act Working Group

The Community Assistance, Recovery & Empowerment (CARE) Act creates a new pathway to deliver mental health and substance use disorder services to the most severely impaired Californians who too often suffer in homelessness or incarceration without treatment. The purpose of the CARE Act Working Group is to provide coordination and on-going engagement with, and support collaboration among, relevant state and local partners and other stakeholders throughout the phases of county implementation to support the successful implementation of the CARE Act.

To learn more, visit the CARE Act Working Group webpage.

Data Exchange Framework

Governor Newsom’s signature on AB 133 puts California on the path to building its first-ever, statewide Health and Human Services Data Exchange Framework — a single data sharing agreement and common set of policies and procedures that will govern the exchange of health information among health care entities and government agencies beginning in June 2024.

More about the Data Exchange Framework ▸

Disability and Aging Community Living Advisory Committee

The purpose of the Disability and Aging Community Living Advisory Committee (“Committee”) is to advance community living, inclusion, and integration across California. California is committed to community living for all, rooted in both the Olmstead Supreme Court decision of 1999 and in California’s values of inclusion, access, and equity. The Committee will ensure the involvement of individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities, older adults, and/or other partners who provide services or represent consumers. The Committee will advise the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS), in addition to other state entities, on community living policies and programs, including but not limited to long-term services and supports, transportation and housing, and employment opportunities.

More about the Disability and Aging Community Living Advisory Committee ▸

Early Childhood Policy Council

The Early Childhood Policy Council will elevate the needs of young children and their families as well as advise the Governor, Legislature and the Superintendent of Public Instruction on statewide early learning, care and child development. It will provide recommendations on all aspects of the state’s early childhood system, including support for the demographic, geographic and economic diversity of the state’s children and families and ways the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care and the Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on Early Childhood Education’s final report can be updated and improved. It will hold at least four public meetings per year and prepare a formal annual report.

More about the Early Childhood Policy Council ▸

Healthy California for All Commission

The Healthy California for All Commission will work to develop a plan for advancing progress toward achieving a health care delivery system for California that provides coverage and access through a unified financing system, including, but not limited to a single payer financing system.

More about the Healthy California for All Commission ▸

Incompetent to Stand Trial Solutions (IST) Workgroup

The California Health and Human Services (CHHS) Agency and the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) are convening an Incompetent to Stand Trial Solutions (IST) Workgroup (Workgroup) to identify actionable solutions that address the increasing number of individuals with serious mental illness who become justice-involved and deemed Incompetent to Stand Trial (IST) on felony charges.

More about the Incompetent to Stand Trial Solutions (IST) Workgroup ▸

Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects

The Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS) serves as the institutional review board (IRB) for the CalHHS. The role of the CPHS and other IRBs is to assure that research involving human subjects is conducted ethically and with minimal risk to participants.

More about the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects▸