The executive director of the Statewide Mental Health Commission was cited for taking a six-day paid trip to England this summer, accompanied by Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown and two other members of the commission. He resigned late last Thursday following criticism. Toby Ewing, the commission’s senior official, resigned after it emerged that his travel expenses had been paid for by a British private mental health contractor. Mr. Ewing was lobbying state legislators on his behalf.
Ewing’s resignation was announced after a four-hour closed session during a meeting of the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. Several mental health advocates then spoke out against what they called bad optics and the deal’s obvious conflicts of interest.
The company in question, Kooth, makes Soluna, a self-coaching mental health app aimed at users ages 13 to 25. Mr. Koos paid $15,000 each for travel expenses for Mr. Ewing, Mr. Brown and one of the two other commissioners who visited, according to state records.
The state is facing a $45 billion deficit, and funding for the app was scheduled to be cut by more than half, by $140 million. The app significantly underperformed the expected performance benchmarks in its first year. Ewing met with the staffs of several key legislative leaders before his visit and spoke out against the proposed cuts. The proposed cuts did not materialize, and Solna’s funding remained in place despite its poor initial performance. As of May this year, the Soluna app had 20,000 subscribers out of a population pool of 12 million.
Sheriff Brown has been a member of the commission since 2010 and is a senior member. In addition to his duties as sheriff, Brown has held significant roles in law enforcement and, to a lesser extent, mental health organizations across the state and nationally. The commission was created to ensure that mental health funds generated by a tax on millionaires approved by the state’s voters in 2004 are spent as approved by voters.
In an email interview, Brown said he has never lobbied anyone on behalf of Koos or the app. “Let me be clear: I have no involvement in funding the Koos app, and I do not lobby, make phone calls, or speak to anyone on Koos’ behalf. did.”
Brown said it was only after the trip began that he learned that Koos’ app was subject to funding cuts in the proposed state budget, and that this funding has since been restored.
Mr Brown said he took part in the trip because of the “widely recognized progress that the UK has made in meeting mental health needs, particularly in relation to early psychosis”. He noted that it is well understood by Californians that families suffering from mental illness “typically receive a response from law enforcement.” Mr. Brown said he was invited to participate as the committee’s leader in law enforcement diversion efforts.
He added that it was his understanding that the visit and its funding had been vetted and approved in advance by the commission’s lawyers, the Fair Political Practices Commission, and the governor’s own office. With the exception of one public day, Brown said his schedule was spent communicating with mental health care professionals, academics and medical professionals.
The cuts originally proposed for Koos’ app were part of $360 million in proposed cuts to mental health services. Ewing, who had served on the commission since 2015 and was paid $175,000 a year, was placed on leave in September in response to conflict of interest concerns, according to reports.
Although his committee had no direct role in approving the contract with Koos, it did note that Ewing stepped up to bat for the company and met with Senate leaders and staff as soon as funding for the app came under fire. is evident from emails, text messages, and appointment records. Because of this, we found that the app needed more time to deliver on its initial promise. The story broke when three whistleblowers from his office filed a complaint with the state auditor.
A spokeswoman for the commission declined to comment, and calls to the commission’s attorney were not returned.
There is no evidence that Mr. Ewing met with anyone from state Rep. Greg Hart’s office or state Sen. Monique Limon’s office.
Last Thursday, in public comments before the committee went into its closing deliberations, the committee recognized that Mr. Ewing appeared to be favoring well-established corporate providers and realized how badly this reflects on mental health. We heard from several mental health advocates who were upset that they weren’t. Committee Mission.
