San Francisco Examiner, Free SF-Run Mental Health Phone Line Faces Uncertain Future

A free statewide mental-health phone line created in San Francisco could shut down in the next few months if Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed state budget passes, according to Mark Salazar, executive director of the Mental Health Association of San Francisco.

Newsom must release a revised 2025-26 budget plan on or before May 14. His January proposal did not include $20 million in allocated funds requested by the Mental Health Association of San Francisco for each of the next three years to continue running the California Peer-Run Warm Line, which launched in 2014 before first receiving funding from the California Department of Health Care Services in 2019.

The line provides peer counselors all day, every day, who offer support for those struggling with their mental health before they reach crisis points, providing an alternative to 911 or other emergency resources. Peer counselors answered nearly 40,000 calls last month, according to the Mental Health Association of San Francisco.

But the organization’s previous funding allocation runs out when the current budget year ends June 30. And its champion for the last two rounds, former Assemblymember Phil Ting, is no longer in Sacramento to advocate for those funds.

“We’re working towards the public campaign at this moment,” Salazar said.

He testified last week at the California Senate Budget Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, and he said Democratic Assemblymembers Matt Haney and Catherine Stefani, who represent San Francisco, and Democratic state Sens. Josh Becker (San Diego) and Angelique Ashby (Sacramento) support the funding.

Salazar said that Californians call in for support for everything from workplace stress to times of major uncertainty, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the aftermath of the November presidential election or amid the recent Los Angeles wildfires.

Since July 2024, the Warm Line has received more than 15,000 calls each month, according to the Mental Health Association of San Francisco’s own data. The organization had not received more than 15,000 calls in a month during the prior two years, according to the data, and Salazar said the spike has continued since the election.

“It could be really just someone wanting to talk or looking for resources or services,” he said. “Even sometimes we link them to therapists — what’s funny is therapists link people back to us because folks can’t afford [therapy].”

Amid the increased demand, Haney, Stefani and other assemblymembers wrote to the Senate subcommittee calling for the renewal of Warm Line funding.

“This funding will ensure continuous, culturally responsive non-crisis support for Californians navigating mental health challenges, reduce burdens on crisis systems and bolster the state’s continuum of care,” the letter said.

The letter cited a 2021 analysis that found that an emergency room visit can cost between $2,000 and $4,000. Without the use of the warm line, 15% of callers said they might have sought that type of intervention instead.

Salazar’s hope is that Newsom will include at least some funding for the line in the next version of the budget. He said the association could operate a pared-down version of the Warm Line with $10 million to $15 million per year, but it would no longer be able to operate 24/7.