A mental health company

The director of California’s mental health commission visited London this summer with the help of a government broker as he helped block a $360 million budget cut that would have reinstated the company’s contract.

Emails and calendars reviewed by California Healthline show Toby Ewing, executive director of the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, made efforts to secure funding for Kooth, a London-based company. of digital mental health the government has hired to develop a tool to help cope with the condition. youth mental health problems. Ewing has pressured key law enforcement officials to keep his contract, as Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers are proposing to reduce California’s $45 billion deficit.

Ha Ewing and three commissioners – Mara Madrigal-Weiss, chairperson of the commission; Bill Brown; and Steve Carnevale – went to London in June, Ewing wasn’t sure if he saved Kooth’s money. On the second day of their trip, the staff informed him that the lawmakers had returned the money.

A few days later, she emailed Kooth’s Chief Operating Officer, Kate Newhouse, with suggestions she shared with Assembly and Senate staff to improve Kooth’s youth teletherapy app. “We expect him to participate in whatever we dream up,” Ewing wrote to Newhouse in another email.

It is unclear why Kooth chose $15,000 for government officials to travel to London. It’s also unclear why Ewing has pushed to protect its equipment to cut costs. The commission is an independent 16-member body appointed by various elected officials to help ensure that taxpayer dollars are used efficiently and effectively by counties for health services. mind. Kooth’s contract is with the Department of Health Care Services, which is separate from the commission.

Kooth last year signed a four-year, $271 million deal to create Soluna, a free mental health app for California users ages 13 to 25. The app, along with another , is a Brightline company, for new users, which started in January to fill. the need for California youth and their families to access professional telehealth for free. It’s one part of Newsom’s $4.7 billion youth mental health plan.

Ewing, who reports to the commission, started in 2015 and earned $175,026 in 2023, according to The Sacramento Bee. He was placed on paid administrative leave in September pending an investigation. The Commission’s chief counsel Sandra Gallardo said the commission does not deal with labor issues. Ewing did not respond to requests for comment.

Three commission employees filed whistle-blowing complaints against Ewing in September with the California State Auditor. They spoke to California Healthline on the condition that their names not be used for fear of workplace retaliation. They say Ewing’s conduct in advancing the cause of a private company as a public official crossed the line.

The agenda for Thursday’s commission meeting listed personnel issues to be discussed in closed session. Pipes said Ewing is the subject of discussion.

Madrigal-Weiss said she could not comment on Ewing’s actions. However, he said the commission supports mental health resources for youth.

Madrigal-Weiss, who is also San Diego’s executive director of student health and school culture, said: “These tools are inexpensive and have proven valuable to young people, especially— hall who struggle to get services in the usual brick and mortar District Education Office.

Brown and Carnevale did not respond to requests for comment.

Kooth is committed to advancing youth access to behavioral health services, said Caroline Curran, of Metis Communications, the public relations firm representing Kooth.

“As a leader in youth behavioral health services with over 20 years of experience in the United Kingdom and the United States, we regularly call on leading organizations in the sector to help learn by sharing knowledge and ideas. differences in the behavioral health of young people,” Curran said.

As California Healthline reported in April, rollout of the Kooth and Brightline devices has been slow, with few children using them. In May, Newsom proposed a $140 million budget cut. DHCS Director Michelle Baass said at the hearing that it is due to low usage, but the state expects more users to come on board over time.

He told lawmakers on May 16 that more than 20,000 children and over 12.6 million adults in the state have enrolled in the programs, and they have been used for about 2,800 training sessions. XNUMX only.

Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Van Nuys) asked Baass at the hearing if there was “any room to get out” of the contract in its entirety. Senators later voted unanimously to cut the entire platform budget to save the government $360 million.

Ewing wrote to a colleague on June 3: “Kooth is scared. Is the cut from Admin or Leg.? Do we know if it’s a done deal? ”

Federal records show Kooth paid about $100,000 this year to the Capital Advocacy firm. At the same time, Ewing’s emails and calendars show that he insisted that Kooth’s money be kept. For example, his calendar for June 4 shows that he was scheduled to meet with Laura Tully, the CEO of Kooth USA, at a coffee shop near the Capitol.

The next day, the whistleblower said, Ewing met with key Senate staff: Scott Ogus, deputy staff director of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, and Marjorie Swartz, adviser to Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire. They said Ewing also discussed Kooth’s contract that week with Rosielyn Pulmano, a health policy adviser for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.

“Toby kept saying ‘California has to have a digital strategy,'” recalled Whistler, who attended both meetings. He continued to pressure Marjorie and Scott, saying he would give them ideas to improve the stage.

Ewing emailed the ideas to legal aides on June 10 and 12.

About two weeks later, he and the commissioners left for a seven-day trip to the U.K. According to documents filed with the National Political Action Commission, receipts and emails reviewed by California At Healthline, Kooth covered the cost of four-star hotels, meals, train tickets, and international flights.

Disclosure forms show Kooth paid the costs of Ewing, Madrigal-Weiss, and Brown. The forms do not show which company paid for the Carnevale trip.

Under California law, state officials generally must report travel payments to the FPPC, which Ewing and his fellow commissioners did.

Kooth postponed a mental health investment conference in London in June, emails and documents show, but scheduled new events for California commissioners to attend.

On May 23, Newhouse informed Carnevale and Ewing via email that Kooth needed to postpone the planned June event. Carnevale, the trade commissioner, described the news as “disappointing for everyone,” especially “because we have already booked trips, including members of the Commissioners’ families who were planning to change this holiday .”

Accepting the interruption, Newhouse told Carnevale that he “would like to think creatively about whether we could try to organize a meeting where you can talk about CYBHI,” referring to Newsom’s Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative.

“However I know from our conversation that we need to talk about the ‘plan’ of your trip and we are not sure if it is possible or not,” he wrote.

Curran, Kooth’s spokesman, said the company “engages in the exchange of knowledge between representatives of international policy centers, research foundations and non-profit organizations.”

Madrigal-Weiss defended the trip, which she said included meetings with “members of government, service providers, education and finance” who shared ideas for “improving funding for mental health needs” through private partnerships and charity.

One of the investors said most of the commissioners back in California didn’t know about the trip until their colleagues were halfway around the world. Sami Gallegos, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Health and Human Services, said the Department of Health Services was not participating in the trip.

Ewing was placed on leave ahead of Kooth’s rescheduled meeting this month in London.

While it’s not uncommon for government officials to travel overseas — often on behalf of private corporations — it doesn’t look good, said Sean McMorris, a government policy expert with California Common Cause, a civil rights group. non-profits.

“It looks like an undue influence,” McMorris said. “I think a lot of people would look at something like this as a way to have fun. You can connect the dots.”

Kooth has also offered to visit state officials in Pennsylvania, where he has a $3 million contract with 30 school districts. At each event, Kooth asked officials to speak to highlight their work. . Pennsylvania notified Kooth that it intended to terminate the contract.