HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who heads Medicaid programs federally, announced they’re deferring over $850 million from the state of California over its Medicaid-funded home and community-based services program called In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS). The Trump administration has attacked IHSS for the program’s growth over the past decade.

Their argument: the program is so successful there must be rampant fraud.

As students are in the dog days of summer, California is preparing for back to school by making a record investment in special education.

In a budget trailer bill signed by Newsom, the state will provide an additional $2.4 billion in special education — a 43% increase from last year.

The investments will be available to all schools that can bolster their special needs programs by increasing the number of reading specialists, behavioral health aides, and one-on-one counselors for students.

In 1999, the United States Supreme Court passed the Olmstead decision determining that people with disabilities should not be forced into institutions when they can be safely and appropriately supported in community settings. Or, in other words, people with mental and other disabilities no longer had to be incarcerated in oppressive institutions when they could reside in whatever type of community living was most appropriate to the individual. 

Healthcare experts working with the California Department of Justice visited the detention center in October 2025 and found multiple deficiencies, including chronic lapses in continuity of care. In a report released last month, state investigators said they reviewed records pertaining to a detainee with seizures who was never referred to a neurologist, an inmate with blood in the urine which was never checked, and a case of tuberculosis which was not adequately handled, putting the patient and others in the facility at risk. 

For decades Berkeley Wellness Center has been a lifeline for people managing mental health challenges, offering art, music therapy and a place to belong. It's doors will be closing on Friday, June 19, 2026 after losing county funding under Prop 1.

Katherine Wolf speaks upon peer support and the importance of services for people with mental health disabilities. 

Patients with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses could be referred to CARE Court at the behest of first responders under a California Senate bill. Senate Bill 989, which was introduced by Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, would allow first responders to contact a county behavioral health department to request that the department petition to have the patient seen in CARE Court.

The bill was approved by the Assembly Health Committee Tuesday afternoon after testimonies supporting and opposing the bill.

Disability rights advocates on Monday gathered outside the state Capitol to push back on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed cuts to in-home supportive services.

“IHSS is not only preferred by disabled people and our families, but is way less expensive than our alternatives,” Eric Harris, associate executive director of external affairs for Disability Rights California, said at the Sacramento press conference.

Disability rights advocates on Monday gathered outside the state Capitol to push back on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed cuts to in-home supportive services.

Disabled Californians face a potential $367.7 million budget cut to taxpayer-funded in-home healthcare services, disability advocates said on Monday.

Advocates noted the move from the state could mean life or death for many with disabilities.

State lawmakers have one week – until June 15 - to pass a budget for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1, and one set of proposed cuts could threaten life-saving medical care for tens of thousands of Californians.

East Bay pastor Albert Macklin, who is blind, says rideshare drivers have refused him service at least seven times in the past two weeks because he travels with a guide dog named Winter.

California's vote-by-mail system, used by roughly 85% of the state's voters, runs on a few small but firm requirements: a marked ballot, a signed envelope and a postmark by Election Day. For voters with disabilities, those steps can become barriers; and the state has built in a number of accommodations that advocates say are not widely known.

As lawmakers work to pass a balanced budget by June 15, Gov. Newsom is proposing a change to Medi-Cal that could threaten eligibility for tens of thousands.

Wheelchair user Julia Feinberg, who has spinal muscular atrophy, is very aware that she will need more assistance as she ages in Oakland. She lives independently thanks to the 600 hours of help she gets each month to have someone assist with daily tasks, like getting out of bed, grocery shopping, and preparing meals.

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to help thousands of homeless Californians when he launched a new mental health court in 2023. So far, it has struggled to help the sickest, most vulnerable people, but a Southern California lawmaker is carrying two proposals this year that she hopes will fix gaps in the program.

A proposed rule change for obtaining Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits could reduce or eliminate income for some 400,000 adults with Down syndrome, dementia and other disabilities who live with low-income relatives, according to a new analysis from ProPublica. It’s a change that advocates worry will further burden disabled people and their families — and could make it harder for disabled people to stay in their homes instead of institutions. 

At the start of this year, a Fairfield woman named Meryl Pomponio filed suit against a handful of small eateries in midtown and East Sacramento. The businesses were varied: HeavenLy’s Yogurt, Centro Cocina Mexicana, OBO’ Italian Table & Bar and the Round Corner Tavern. But the story was the same. Pomponio, a 70-year-old woman who uses a wheelchair, had not had full access to all the restaurant’s amenities. She alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a 1990 civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.

When CARE Court was first proposed, Gov. Gavin Newsom heralded it as the solution to treat thousands struggling from a serious mental illness through involuntary treatment. Families breathed a sigh of relief knowing their adult children had a way to become mentally stabilized after years of struggling with a broken health care system. But the bill was changed to favor voluntary treatment and their hopes were dashed.

In San Jose, families say California’s CARE Court, the much-touted civil program meant to route adults with psychosis into help, is leaving many of their loved ones stuck in limbo instead of in treatment. Parents and advocates describe petitions tossed on technicalities, clinicians refusing to sign key affidavits, and long waits that stretch on while people never receive the services judges say they should get.