BHSA Policy Updates | BHSA County Policy Manual

Update: On June 30, 2026, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released an updated version of the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) County Policy Manual (“Policy Manual”). The Policy Manual is updated to include Module 5, a revised Integrated Plan/Annual Update/Intermittent Update (IP/AU/IU) template, and a revised Budget Template Version 3. The updates to each document are described below:

Policy Manual (Version 1.5.0)

Addition of new language:

Chapter 10. Behavioral Health Individual and Service Level (ISL) Encounter Reporting

In addition, DHCS made changes to the following sections of the existing Policy Manual:

Chapter 2.C Statewide Vision for Behavioral Health Quality and Equity
- Added language to further define BHT performance measures, including the BHT performance measures list finalized in June 2026.
- Expanded information on how performance measures are calculated, reported, and used for transparency, planning, population health, and future accountability.
- Added detail on how performance measures will be incorporated into Integrated Plans, Annual Updates, and reporting cycles.
Chapter 3. Integrated Plan (Sections A–E, including Guidance for Completing the Integrated Plan)
- Added and clarified requirements for Integrated Plan (IP), Annual Update (AU), and Intermittent Update (IU) submissions, including timelines, approvals, and County Portal processes.
- Added new requirements for incorporating Phase 2 Performance Measures into planning and reporting beginning with AUs submitted after July 2026.
- Added new requirements for incorporating FSP Presumptive Eligibility, as required by AB-348 Full-Service Partnership (2025).
- Added clarification on AU and IU submission requirements, certification requirements, and funding allocation percentage change (i.e., exemption and funding transfer requests) processes and approvals.
- Expanded guidance on Budget Template reporting and alignment with the Behavioral Health Care Continuum and BHSA funding components.
- Updated guidance on stakeholder engagement, including coordination with Local Health Jurisdictions (LHJs) and Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans (MCPs) through CHAs/CHIPs to align with updates to the CalAIM PHM Policy Guide.
Chapter 6. BHT Fiscal Policies
- Added guidance on submitting a new funding allocation percentage change or adjusting a previously approved funding allocation percentage change via an AU or IU.
- Chapter 7. BHSA Components and Requirements
- Added guidance on aligning High-Fidelity Wraparound in FSP with Medi-Cal

BHSA Integrated Plan/Annual Update/Intermittent Update Template:

Added guidance and instructions that the template is for the Three-Year Integrated Plan, revised for county submissions of Annual Updates and Intermittent Updates
Added new questions related to CARE Act Participants
Added instructions and new questions for completing the Statewide-Behavioral Health Goals section with the transition from population-level measures to performance measures
Added new questions for completing the community planning process for the AU and IU.
Included guidance for counties to report on all programs, including continuing operational MHSA INN projects, in alignment with the relevant allowable BHSA component.
Added question on county strategies for identifying and enrolling individuals presumptively eligible for FSP.
Added guidance across FSP regarding allowable uses of funds and program requirements to align with the High Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) Policy Manual and in the draft BHIN on Medi-Cal Coverage of High Fidelity Wraparound (HFW) for Children and Youth.
Refined questions on assessing workforce gaps for overall vacancy rates for county-operated and county-contracted permanent clinical/direct service behavioral health positions.

Budget Template Version 3: (available upon request or via the County Portal)

Added guidance and instructions for counties to complete the budget template workbook for initial IP submissions and AU/IU updates
Changes to Tab 4. BHSA Transfers to include Year 2 and Year 3 for exemption requests and added validation checks for funding transfers
Changes to Tab 4. BHSA Transfers, Tab 5 Housing Interventions, Tab 6. Full Service Partnership, and Tab 7. BHSS to add rows for unspent MHSA “Encumbered” INN Funds and unspent MHSA “Unencumbered” INN funds
- Changes to Tab 5. Housing Interventions to remove projected encumbered MHSA INN fund expenditures from the 50% HI funds dedicated to chronically homeless suballocation requirement calculation and from the 51% BHSS funds dedicated to Early Intervention suballocation requirement calculation
Changes to Tab 5 Housing Interventions, Tab 6. Full Service Partnership, and Tab 7. BHSS to include transfers from prudent reserve into the BHSA component funding section with total revenue
Changes to Tab 8. BHSA Plan Admin to include validation checks for “Improvement and Monitoring” (2% or 4%) and “Planning” (5%)
Changes to Tab 9. Prudent Reserve to include prudent reserve validation checks to indicate “No Excess” or “Reduce Excess”
Changes to Tab 10. BHSA Summary tab to indicate component percentage breakdowns for all three years and include total administrative and planning expenditures in the BHSA Summary

For questions, please email BHTPolicyFeedback@dhcs.ca.gov

Update: On April 3, 2026, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released an updated version of the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) County Policy Manual (“Policy Manual”). The Policy Manual is updated to include Phase 2 Measures and Module 4, which were released for Public Comment in November 2025. Policy Manual Updates include:

Revisions to ensure a higher standard of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including:

Removing statutory and regulatory links and replacing with in-text, pinpoint citations.
Updating anchor text for links to sections within the Policy Manual.
Updating tables to eliminate merged rows.

Addition of new language:

Chapter 9. BHSA Oversight and Enforcement
Appendix E: Behavioral Health Services Act Biennial Early Intervention Evidence-Based Practices and Community-Defined Evidence-Based Practices List
Appendix F: Acronym List
Added language in the Help Center, Navigating the BHSA Policy Manual to describe Accessing the Cited Statutes and Regulations

In addition, DHCS made changes to the following sections of the existing Policy Manual:

Chapter 2.C Statewide Vision for Behavioral Health Quality and Equity
- Added language to clarify Phase 1 Performance Measures from Phase 2.
- Added language describing how performance measures are calculated and how they will be used.
- Added the Phase 2 BHT Performance Measures.
Chapter 3.E Guidance for Completing the Integrated Plan
- Added language to clarify FSP exemption request criteria.
Chapter 7.A Behavioral Health Services and Supports
- Added language to describe how the BHSA Biennial Early Intervention Evidence-Based Practices and Community-Defined Evidence Practices List was developed, how the list is organized, and how it will be updated.
Chapter 7.B Full Service Partnership
- Added foundational requirements for FSP Evidence-Based Practices.
- Added language to clarify FSP exemption request criteria.
- Added a description of Innovative Behavioral Health Pilots and Projects.
Chapter 7.C Housing Interventions
- Added a description of Innovative Behavioral Health Pilots and Projects.

For questions, please email BHTPolicyFeedback@dhcs.ca.gov.

Previous Update: On March 6, 2026, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released draft versions of the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) County Policy Manual (“Policy Manual”) Module 5 and accompanying documents including a draft BHSA Annual Update and Intermittent Update Template and draft Integrated Plan Budget Template (Version 3), which incorporates improvements based on prior stakeholder feedback. The feedback period is from March 6, 2026, to March 27, 2026.

If you have trouble providing your comments, please reach out to BHTPolicyFeedback@dhcs.ca.gov. You may notice gaps in section numbering – this is intentional and reflects the contents already finalized or still under review/finalization.

Previous Update: On February 24th, 2026, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) removed the Integrated Plan (IP) Budget Template Version 2 from the Download Resources page. The current version of the IP Budget Template (V.3) is now available to the relevant Cities and Counties in the county support center.

Previous Update: On October 30th, 2025, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released updated versions of the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) County Policy Manual (“Policy Manual”), BHSA Integrated Plan Template, County Population-Level Behavioral Health Measure Workbook, and County Population-Level Behavioral Health Measure Workbook – Measure Access Instructions & Notes.

The revised versions have been updated on the Download Resources page. The updates include the following:

Policy Manual (Version 1.3.2.):

Revisions were made to ensure a higher standard of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including:

Removing footnote text that may disrupt screen reader navigation
Consolidating important information directly into the main text to improve accessibility
Streamlining document structure for more consistent reading order

BHSA Integrated Plan Template:

Updated numeric fields to accept responses with decimal points.
Added an “N/A” option to the Statewide Behavioral Health Goals question “How does your county status compare to the statewide rate?”
Added question to “Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT) Details” sub-section to Behavioral Health Service Act/Fund Programs, Full Service Partnership Program to align with County Portal.
Revised Integrated Plan template language to align with County Portal functionality.
Made other technical edits to address feedback from County Portal users.

BHSA Integrated Plan Budget Template:

Changes to Budget Sheet Tab 10. BHSA_Summary. Formula updated to avoid double counting of MHSA unspent carryover funds
Changes to Budget Sheet Tab 7. BHSS. BHSS EI Threshold calculation should exclude MHSA transferred WET and CFTN funds as they are exempt from suballocation requirements, formula revised to remove WET and CFTN. Added a BHSS transfer to WET/CFTN for reversion tracking.
Changes to Budget Sheet Tab 8. BHSA_PlanAdmin. Updated instructions to clarify DHCS will not pre-populate data for "Total Projected Annual Revenues of BHSF". Counties must enter in the data.
Added unspent MHSA funds row for year 1, 2 and 3 for all component tabs.
Added separate rows for unspent MHSA WET/CFTN expenditures.
Fixed formula and instruction errors.

County Population-Level Behavioral Health Measure Workbook:

Added county-specific rates for the California Consumer Perception Survey (CPS) and the Quality Domain Score Treatment Perception Survey (TPS) measures included in the “County Snapshot”, “Care Experience”, “Social Connection”, and “Quality of Life” (QoL) tabs.
Updated the “School” tab to include 2023 – 2024 county-specific rates for the Student Chronic Absenteeism Rate measure.
Made additional technical updates to better align the measure names with publicly available dashboards/reports.

County Population-Level Behavioral Health Measure Workbook – Measure Access Instructions & Notes

Added additional notes and clarifying text to improve usability and streamline navigation to public dashboards/reports.
Made technical updates to better align the measure names with publicly available dashboards/reports.

For questions, please email BHTPolicyFeedback@dhcs.ca.gov.