Community Partner Toolkit

Under California’s former Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), counties were required to submit long-range behavioral health plans outlining years of activity and investment. In 2024, the state transitioned to the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA), expanding both scope and funding priorities. While these plans were critical for compliance, the path for community participation was buried in dense policy manuals that few people could realistically navigate.
Families, advocates, and nonprofit leaders were left asking a simple question: How do I actually engage?
The Commission for Behavioral Health (CBH) wanted to answer that question directly. Instead of creating another technical document, they set out to build a Community Partner Toolkit — a practical, plain-language guide designed to help Californians understand and participate in the Community Planning Process.
Program 11 led the research, content strategy, and development using our Instructional Marketing™ approach — a research-informed method grounded in how people actually learn and act. We interviewed county leaders, service providers, and community organizers, joined statewide listening sessions, and reviewed policy materials to pinpoint where confusion and disengagement most often occurred.
The result is a guide built for real-world use. Each section starts with the basics — what this is, why it matters — before walking readers step-by-step through how decisions are made and where their voices fit. Glossaries, visual timelines, and clearly mapped processes reduce friction. Built-in tools like comment templates, participation scripts, worksheets, and checklists help people move from understanding to action.
Accessibility shaped every decision. The Toolkit is written in plain language, defines acronyms as they appear, and was designed to meet ADA and WCAG standards so it can serve Californians with a wide range of backgrounds and reading proficiencies.
Launched in February, the Community Partner Toolkit is already being shared by counties and community partners as a go-to engagement resource. It sets a new bar for transparency and shows what happens when public policy is designed not just to inform communities, but to equip them.