State commission hears community feedback on Innovation Partnership Fund design

The Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission convened a virtual listening session to gather public input on the design of the Innovation Partnership Fund (IPF), a grant program created under Proposition 1 and the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA). Sarah Brooks, senior director at Sellers Dorsey, told participants the fund totals $100,000,000 and is expected to provide about $20,000,000 per year for five years beginning in fiscal 2026-27.

The session brought commissioners, staff and community stakeholders together to test a working definition of —innovation,— review statutory target populations and discuss proposed investment priorities and —cpillars.— Sarah Brooks said the draft definition aims to include approaches that are —actionable and ready for real world implementation— and emphasized that some parts of the IPF statutory language are fixed: —this is defined in statute and that this is an area that at this point, no additional feedback is needed,— she said.

Why it matters: the IPF money is intended to support projects that reduce behavioral health disparities among…