California faces a behavioral health crisis. Nearly one in six Californians experiences mental illness, with the majority of serious mental illness appearing before the age of 25 during adolescence. Suicide rates have increased more than 50% since 2000, and overdose rates more than 50% in the first 12 months of the Covid-19 pandemic. The issue of mental health has been particularly pronounced for youth, for whom U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory declaring a mental health crisis in December 2021.