Brown proposes schools, not counties, pay for mental health
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Deep in Gov. Jerry Brown's May revision of his January budget is a possible solution to a major conflict over funding mental health services for special education students.
Brown this week proposed that schools, not counties, be responsible for paying for mental health services, which include counseling, medication management and treatment in a residential facility. Using a complex formula Brown has come up with $390 million, including $69 million in federal special education funds, to help schools pay for those services.
"We think that the program is sufficiently funded in 2011-12 with most of the dollars going to the school district
Brown sends mixed message on First 5 funds
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When Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled his revised budget Monday, he sent a mixed message to First 5 commissions throughout the state: On one hand, the budget would no longer include taking $1 billion from them. On the other, the state would still pursue those funds.
Any relief commissions felt about Brown balancing the budget without First 5 funds was tempered by confusion over why he would still defend a law that takes those dollars.
First 5 commissions, which support early childhood development programs, have been slashing their budgets, cutting programs and eliminating services to meet the funding shift. They are now "in a weird limbo position," said Sherry Novick, executive director of the First 5 Association of California, a nonprofit membership group.
In March, Brown signed legislation that requires First 5 commissions to transfer $1 billion to the state for children's health services. Eight county commissions have sued over the legislation, AB 99, contending that it