Research Brief
Los Angeles County's Mental Health Full Service Partnerships Yield Cost Savings
Oct 29, 2018
This report estimates government spending and cost savings associated with outcomes targeted by Full Service Partnership programs (which focus on individuals with severe mental illness) in Los Angeles County: homelessness, criminal justice detention, health care (inpatient and outpatient), and employment. The report examines financial costs and savings associated with these outcomes for children, transition-age youth, and adults over five years.
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Los Angeles County used some of its Mental Health Services Act funds to greatly expand access to Full Service Partnership (FSP) programs. These programs, for individuals with serious mental illness, use a team approach to provide comprehensive, community-based psychiatric treatment, rehabilitation, and support to move toward recovery and resilience for target populations. For this report, the authors estimated annual government spending associated with five outcome areas targeted by FSPs: homelessness, criminal justice detention, behavioral health inpatient stays, connection to outpatient primary care, and employment. The focus is on government cost savings from these outcomes over a five-year period (2012–2016), comparing spending during the 12 months prior to individuals' enrollment in FSPs with the 12 months after FSP enrollment.
There is evidence that the investment Los Angeles County has made in its FSP programs has yielded positive outcomes and resulted in a substantial decrease in spending on criminal justice detention and more-moderate decreases in spending on behavioral health inpatient stays and on clients who are homeless. There are also nonfinancial benefits, such as improved mental health and quality of life, that could not be incorporated into the financial analysis.
Chapter One
Background
Chapter Two
Methods
Chapter Three
Results: Outcomes and Costs of Full Service Partnerships
Chapter Four
Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations
The research described in this report funded by the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, in partnership with the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) and conducted by RAND Health.
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