The director of California鈥檚 mental health commission traveled to London this summer courtesy of a state vendor while he was helping to prevent a that would have defunded the company鈥檚 contract.
Emails and calendars reviewed by 麻豆女优 Health News show Toby Ewing, executive director of the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, made efforts to protect funding for Kooth, a London-based digital mental health company the state hired to develop a virtual tool to help tackle its youth mental health crisis. Ewing pressed key legislative staffers to maintain its contract, even as Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers proposed cuts in the face of California鈥檚 $45 billion deficit.
When Ewing and three commissioners 鈥 Mara Madrigal-Weiss, the commission chair; Bill Brown; and Steve Carnevale 鈥 left for London in June, Ewing wasn鈥檛 sure whether he had saved Kooth鈥檚 funding. On the second day of their trip, that lawmakers had .
A few days later, Kooth Chief Operating Officer Kate Newhouse suggestions he had shared with Assembly and Senate staff to improve Kooth鈥檚 youth teletherapy app. 鈥淲e expect you to be involved in whatever we dream up,鈥 Ewing wrote to Newhouse in another email.
It鈥檚 unclear why Kooth picked up a $15,000 tab for state officials to travel to London. It鈥檚 also unclear why Ewing pushed to protect its app from a spending cut. The commission is a 16-member independent body appointed by various elected officials to help ensure funds from a millionaires tax are used appropriately and effectively by counties for mental health services. Kooth鈥檚 contract is with the Department of Health Care Services, which is separate from the commission.
Kooth last year signed a four-year to , a free mental health app for California users ages 13 to 25. The app, , by the company Brightline, for younger users, launched in January to fill a need for young Californians and their families to access professional telehealth free of charge. It鈥檚 one component of Newsom鈥檚 youth mental health plan.
Ewing, who reports to the commission, started in 2015 and earned $175,026 in 2023, according to . He was placed on in September pending an investigation. Commission chief counsel Sandra Gallardo said the commission does not comment on personnel matters. Ewing did not respond to requests for comment.
Three commission employees filed whistleblower complaints against Ewing in September with the California State Auditor. They spoke with 麻豆女优 Health News on the condition that their names not be used due to fears of workplace retaliation. They say Ewing鈥檚 conduct advancing a private company鈥檚 agenda as a public official crossed a line.
for Thursday鈥檚 commission meeting listed a personnel matter to be discussed in closed session. The whistleblowers said Ewing is the subject of the discussion.
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Toby Ewing, executive director of California鈥檚 Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission, is resigning amid an investigation into his conduct and revelations that he traveled to the U.K. courtesy of a vendor as he sought to protect state funding for its contract.
Read MoreMadrigal-Weiss said she couldn鈥檛 comment on Ewing鈥檚 actions. However, she said the commission supports virtual mental health resources for youth.
鈥淭hese resources are less expensive and have proven valuable for youth, especially those who struggle to access services in typical brick-and-mortar spaces,鈥 said Madrigal-Weiss, who is also executive director of student wellness and school culture for the San Diego County Office of Education.
Brown and Carnevale didn鈥檛 respond to requests for comment.
Kooth is committed to advancing youth access to behavioral health services, said Caroline Curran, of Metis Communications, a public relations firm representing Kooth.
鈥淎s a leader in youth behavioral health services with over 20 years of experience in the United Kingdom and the United States, we regularly convene sector-leading organizations to facilitate learning through sharing expertise and diverse perspectives on youth behavioral health,鈥 Curran said.
As 麻豆女优 Health News reported in April, the Kooth and Brightline app rollouts have been slow, with few children using them. In May, Newsom proposed a $140 million budget cut. DHCS Director Michelle Baass said in that it was due to low use but that the state expects more users to come on board over time, according to CalMatters’ Digital Democracy tool.
She told lawmakers on May 16 that roughly 20,000 of the state鈥檚 more than 12.6 million children and young adults had registered on the apps, and they had been used for only about 2,800 coaching sessions.
State Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Van Nuys) asked Baass at the hearing whether 鈥渢here鈥檚 room to get out鈥 of the contract altogether. Senators later to cut the entire platform budget to save the state $360 million.
Ewing on June 3: 鈥淜ooth is freaking out. Is the cut coming from the Admin or the Leg.? Do we know if it鈥檚 a done deal?鈥
State show Kooth has paid around $100,000 this year to the firm Capital Advocacy. At the same time, Ewing鈥檚 emails and calendars show that he pushed for Kooth鈥檚 funding to be retained. For instance, his June 4 calendar shows he was scheduled to , an executive from Kooth USA, at a coffee shop near the Capitol.
The next day, a whistleblower said, Ewing key Senate staff members: Scott Ogus, deputy staff director of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, and Marjorie Swartz, a consultant for Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire. They said Ewing also discussed Kooth鈥檚 contract that week with Rosielyn Pulmano, a health policy consultant for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas.
鈥淭oby kept saying that 鈥楥alifornia has to have a digital strategy,鈥欌 recalled the whistleblower, who attended both meetings. 鈥淗e kept pushing Marjorie and Scott, saying that he would give them ideas to make the platform better.鈥
Ewing to the legislative aides on June 10 and 12.
About two weeks later, he and the commissioners left for the seven-day trip to the U.K. According to documents filed with the state , receipts, and emails reviewed by 麻豆女优 Health News, Kooth covered the costs of four-star hotels, meals, train tickets, and international flights.
Public disclosure forms show Kooth paid expenses for Ewing, Madrigal-Weiss, and Brown. The forms do not show the company paid for Carnevale鈥檚 travel.
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 in June, emails and documents show, but then organized for the California commissioners to attend instead.
On May 23, Newhouse informed Carnevale and Ewing that Kooth needed to postpone the planned June event. Carnevale, a venture capitalist, described the news as 鈥渄isappointing for all,鈥 especially 鈥渂ecause we have already booked trips, including family members of Commissioners who were planning to turn this into a holiday.鈥
Acknowledging the disruption, Newhouse told Carnevale that she 鈥渨ould like to think creatively as to whether we could try to arrange a meeting where you can talk about the CYBHI,鈥 referring to Newsom鈥檚 Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative.
鈥淚 know though from our conversation that we need to cover the 鈥榩urpose鈥 of your trip and not sure what is possible or not,鈥 she wrote.
Curran, the Kooth spokesperson, said the company 鈥渁dapted by holding a knowledge exchange between representatives from international policy institutes, research foundations, and non-profit organizations.鈥
Madrigal-Weiss defended the trip, which she said included meetings with 鈥渕embers of the government, service providers, education, and finance鈥 who shared ideas on how 鈥渢o enhance funds for public mental health needs鈥 through private and philanthropic partnerships.
One of the whistleblowers said many of the commissioners back in California were not aware of the trip until their colleagues were halfway across the world. Sami Gallegos, a spokesperson for the California Health and Human Services Agency, said the Department of Health Care Services did not participate in the travel.
Ewing was put on leave before Kooth鈥檚 this month in London.
Although it鈥檚 not unusual for state officials to travel overseas 鈥 often on the dime of private entities 鈥 it doesn鈥檛 look good, said Sean McMorris, a government ethics expert with California Common Cause, a nonprofit government watchdog group.
鈥淚t looks like undue influence,鈥 McMorris said. 鈥淚 think a lot of people would view something like this as a way to curry favor. You can connect the dots.鈥
Kooth has similarly gifted travel to state officials in Pennsylvania, where it had a $3 million contract with 30 school districts. In each case, Kooth invited the officials to speak to highlight their work. Pennsylvania has informed Kooth it intends to terminate the contract.
This article was produced by 麻豆女优 Health News, which publishes , an editorially independent service of the .听
