Senator Wiener Named Chair of Senate Mental Health Caucus, Recognized as Legislator of the Year by California Marriage and Family Therapists

January 21, 2021

SACRAMENTO - Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has been named the Chair of the California Senate Mental Health Caucus, which focuses on improving California’s resources and care for mental health and substance use disorder. Senator Wiener was also named the California Marriage and Family Therapist’s “Legislator of the Year” for his work on Senate Bill 855, which was signed into law on January 1st. SB 855 guarantees that insurance companies and health plans cover all medically necessary mental health and substance use disorder treatments, and has made California a nationwide leader in mental health care. 

As the Senate Mental Health Caucus Chair, Senator Wiener will continue focusing on destigmatizing and increasing treatment options for mental health issues and substance use disorder, and on implementing harm reduction measures – like overdose prevention programs – to help people who are struggling with addiction be safer and access treatment and services. So far, he has introduced three bills focused on mental health and substance use disorder:

  • SB 57, Overdose Prevention Programs: would implement an overdose prevention program (safe consumption sites) pilot in San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles County where intravenous drug users could safely inject drugs with supervision, clean supplies, and overdose prevention medications like Narcan available. 
  • SB 210, Recovery Incentives Act: would legalize and authorize Medi-Cal to reimburse contingency management programs, in which those struggling with addiction are giving small financial incentives for staying sober. Contingency management is one of the only effective treatments for methamphetamine addiction.
  • SB 221, Timely Mental Health Care: would require health plans and insurers to provide patients with timely follow-up care for mental health issues and substance use disorders. 

Senator Wiener made the following statement:

“I am deeply honored to take on the role of Chair for the Senate Mental Health Caucus, and to be recognized by the California Marriage and Family Therapists. Mental health and substance use disorder are two of the biggest crises of our times, and we must do everything in our power to destigmatize and increase treatment options for mental illness and addiction. COVID-19 has been a challenging time for everyone’s mental health, and we are sadly seeing increases in depression, anxiety, suicide, substance use, and overdoses. We need to act now, which is why I’ll continue fighting to pass badly-needed legislation that addresses these crises.”