Treating the homeless mentally ill

Homelessness is a huge problem in California, and when it’s combined with mental illness, it’s almost unsolvable. Almost. Fortunately, thanks to Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act passed in 2004, a steady stream of funding amounting to $1 billion annually is available statewide to provide mental-health services.

In this special three-story package, we interview the author of Prop. 63, Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, look at how the money is being spent in Butte County, meet some of the homeless men who hang around downtown Chico, and talk with the Jesus Center’s Bill Such about a new approach to doorway campers downtown.