Addressing Chronic Vacancies in Prison Mental Health Care

Feb 23, 2026 - If the state —working with the court —allowed tele ‑mental health providers to work outside of California, it could likely attract a much larger pool of qualified professionals. Moreover, California often pays mental health professionals more than other states.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5134

The 2026-27 Budget: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

Feb 23, 2026 - If the state and court allowed tele ‑mental health providers to work outside of California, it could likely attract a much larger pool of qualified providers. Moreover, California often pays mental health professionals more than other states.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5137

The 2026-27 Budget: Judicial Branch

Feb 11, 2026 - Trial courts have a limited ability to keep and carry over any unspent funds (also known as “reserves ”) from one fiscal year to the next. Specifically, trial courts are only allowed to carry over funds equal to 3  percent of their operating budget from the prior fiscal year under current law.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5113

The 2026-27 Budget: Department of Justice

Feb 11, 2026 - If the fee levels are lower than current or projected costs, the Legislature would be better equipped to assess (1)  how much of this workload needs to be supported from the General Fund at the cost of other budget priorities or (2)  whether the cost of the workload needs to be reduced —such as through statutory or other changes —to avoid such budgetary trade-offs.
https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/5118