Welcome to the CASRA Newsletter

In this issue:

-Harm reduction has been proven to save lives, and is now facing funding cuts

-Homelessness is down in California and across the country according to the feds

-California moves to restore a lifeline for LGBTQ youth that trump eliminated

-Beyond medication and what can be learned about care from England's experience

Enjoy!

If you have news you would like to share or a colleague you would like to spotlight because of the great work they do or just because they are a great person or both, let us know by contacting joe@casra.org.

A benefit of membership in CASRA is receiving four hours of training for your staff. For more information, please contact joe@casra.org

If you are a CASRA member agency and would like to advertise your learning opportunity, training or event for the benefit of other CASRA member agencies, please contact us at events@casra.org.
There are a few guidelines:
-You are a CASRA Member Agency
-Your event is free of charge
and, as a reminder the Newsletter is published on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month

A Photo Gallery now resides on the EVENTS page of the CASRA website and currently consists of albums of the 2024 Spring and the 2025 Fall CASRA Gatherings. We plan on adding more albums in the future.

If you have photos of your agency's events you would like to share with other CASRA members, contact joe@casra.org.

To view the current albums in the Photo Gallery, CLICK HERE.

The  CASRA Learning Library and its contents are free to CASRA member organizations and their staff. The Library is located in the Member Portal on the CASRA website here. More detailed instructions on how to access and use the Library can also be found on the CASRA website when logged on the Portal.

Our hope is that the Library's offerings will provide learning opportunities that will serve as part of CASRA agencies' onboarding processes for new staff, as well as be a resource of Recovery oriented values and practices for all staff. 

Access to the Learning Library is currently limited to CASRA member agencies and their staff. We hope to expand availability in the future.

For questions and more information contact Joe Ruiz - joe@casra.org.

Our member agencies are continually looking for new employees or volunteers to join their workforce.

To see current openings and find out additional information about CASRA Member Agencies, please click below.

CASRA facilitates a number of support groups for people working at CASRA member agencies. The support groups provide people working in similar roles opportunities to share experiences, information, and challenges. They meet monthly for approximantely one hour. for more information contact the person listed for each group.

Social Rehabilitation Facilities (SRF)
Meets: First Tuesday of the month at 1 PM

Human Resources
Meets: First Thursday of the month at 11 AM

Employment/Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Meets: First Thursday of the month at 3 PM

For information regarding any of the above groups contact:
Chad Costello, chad@casra.org

Wellness Services (Well Talk)
The Wellness Services support group is now online. For more info contact Joe Ruiz, joe@casra.org

CASRA is a statewide organization of private, not-for-profit, public benefit corporations that serve clients of the California public mental health system.

Member agencies provide a variety of services that are designed to enhance the quality of life and community participation of youth, adults and older adults living with challenging mental health issues. Read more

The California Association of Social Rehabilitation Agencies

Mailing Address:
3350 E. 7th Street, #509
Long Beach, CA 90804

Email: casra@casra.org

Phone: (562) 343-2621

To reach us: use our Contact Form

LA County Just Proved Harm Reduction Saves Lives. Now Funding Is Being Cut.

From invisiblepeople.tv
By Kayla Robbins

For the first time since tracking began in 2014, the homeless mortality rate in Los Angeles County dropped by 10%, proof that harm reduction and housing services save lives. However, looming funding cuts threaten to reverse every bit of that hard-won progress.

For the First Time in 10 Years, the Homeless Mortality Rate Dropped in LA County, driven by Programs Now on the Chopping Block

Department of Public Health data from 2023 and 2024 show a 10% decrease in the mortality rate for LA County’s homeless residents. That’s a difference of about 300 lives. In the 10 years that this data has been recorded, this is the first time it has ever decreased. Read More

Homelessness Is Down in California and Across the Country, Says New Federal Report

From calmatters.org
By Marisa Kendall, May 30, 2026

The number of people with nowhere to call home decreased both in California and nationwide last year, according to a long-awaited federal report.

The data, showing the first decrease in homelessness in years, provided fuel for activists challenging the Trump administration’s narrative that current homelessness policies are failing and need to be overhauled.

There were 181,934 homeless Californians counted last year – a 2.8% decrease from 2024, according to the new federal report. Overall, the country saw a 3.3% drop in homelessness, marking the first decrease since 2016. Nationwide, an estimated 745,652 people are homeless. Read More

California Moves To Restore a Lifeline for LGBTQ+ Youth That Trump Eliminated

After the Trump Administration Ended a Specialized 988 Service Used by More Than 1.5 Million People, California Is Trying To Rebuild a Lifeline for LGBTQ+ Youth in Crisis.

From advocate.com
By Christopher Wiggins, June 2, 2026

Less than a year after the Trump administration eliminated the specialized LGBTQ+ youth option within the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, California lawmakers are advancing legislation to bring it back.

Assembly Bill 1540, introduced by Assemblymember Mark González, would require California officials to establish a pathway for callers to dial 988 and connect directly with counselors trained to work with LGBTQ+ youth in crisis, effectively recreating the "Press 3" option that disappeared nationwide last summer.

The bill passed the Assembly last week on a 64-8 vote and now heads to the Senate.

For González, a gay Democrat representing Los Angeles County's 54th Assembly District, the measure is about more than a hotline. It is about whether states will step in as federal protections and programs affecting LGBTQ+ people disappear. Read More

Beyond Medication: What England’s Experience Can Teach Us About Psychosis Care

From madinamerica.com
By Alison Brabban, June 9, 2026

Across the United States, debate is intensifying about overprescribing, medicalisation and the dominance of biomedical approaches within mental healthcare. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent comments about antidepressants and psychiatry have brought these issues back into the public spotlight, but concerns about over-medicalisation are not new. Service users, survivors, psychologists, social psychiatrists and critical mental health researchers have been raising similar concerns for decades. The question, however, is not simply whether psychiatry has become overly medicalised. The more difficult question is what genuine alternatives look like in practice.

England offers an interesting and somewhat contradictory example. For over twenty years, national clinical guidelines have recognised that people experiencing psychosis should have access to psychological therapies and wider psychosocial support—not simply medication alone. At the same time, however, access to the recommended psychological therapies remains highly uneven and many services continue to rely heavily on biomedical and risk-focused approaches.

This tension reveals something important: moving beyond over-medicalisation requires far more than changing rhetoric. It requires investment, workforce development, training, supervision, and a fundamental cultural shift in how we understand psychosis and recovery. For many people who experience psychosis, one of the hardest things is not simply the experience itself—it is trying to find help that feels validating, collaborative and genuinely useful. Read More

If you or someone you know is considering suicide or self-harm, there are resources available to provide free and confidential support. Call 988 or the Teen Line at 1-800-TLC-TEEN or The Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 for LGBTQ young people.

Project Return Peer Support Network (PRPSN) Provides certified WRAP training

CASRA member agency Project Return Peer Support Network (PRPSN) is now a licensed Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). PRPSN's Training Institute is now a leading provider of WRAP Seminars across the West Coast, helping individuals and organizations build wellness tools that foster hope, personal responsibility, and empowerment.

 For more information or to schedule a WRAP Seminar, please contact PRPSN's Training Coordinator, Gustavo Limas at glimas@prpsn.org.

Learn More

Like a welcome summer rain,
humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth,
the air and you.

Langston Hughes
Poet and Social Activist