On Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2026, the governor’s office said California has invested more than $10.5 billion since 2019 to support servicemembers, veterans and their families.
The office provided specific program results and spending figures; they include major mental‑health, housing, long‑term care and benefits outcomes that affect veterans across the state.
Mental‑health funding is anchored by Proposition 1’s $6.4 billion Behavioral Health Bond, the office said; the state established the California Veterans Health Initiative in 2022 to expand veteran‑centered behavioral health and committed to provide 100,000 free mental‑health appointments over three years. As of October 2026, participating organizations were averaging more than 5,500 no‑cost clinical appointments for veterans and their families each quarter.
The office said it has set aside $4.7 million to improve veteran access to clinical trials for psychedelic‑assisted therapy.
CalVet is modernizing long‑term care, the office said; the CalVet Electronic Health Record is now deployed across all eight state Veterans Homes, and the state is advancing construction of a new 240‑bed skilled nursing and memory care facility at the Veterans Home of California‑Yountville.
On housing, the office said the state has financed over 6,500 housing units, including 3,418 designated for veterans, and created almost 3,000 affordable homes through 57 Homekey+ projects. The CalVet Home Loan Program has supported nearly 450,000 veterans in purchasing homes, the office added.
On earned benefits, the office said the statewide benefits assistance network helped file more than 317,000 claims and that those efforts generated an estimated $736 million in new or increased federal benefits in fiscal year 2025–26.
The press release described targeted outreach for underserved veterans; it said the state has held Tribal Veteran Mental Health Summits, supported LGBTQ veterans discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell to update records, increased events for underserved populations by 20%, surveyed thousands of women veterans, and helped more than 800 veterans and family members pursue naturalized citizenship steps when applicable to their status and goals. The office said it also assisted more than 1,000 veterans and family members during a Los Angeles wildfire response through CalVet’s regional network during disasters and emergencies when records or prescriptions needed replacement or restoration of access to benefits and services and emergency resources were required by the situation at hand. Those are the office’s counts and characterizations; the Journal has reported those figures as presented by the governor’s office and CalVet in the release cited above, not as independently audited totals by the Journal at this time.
Sources & methodology
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