You are at a friend's, or a cousin's, or a shelter, and the adults who could sign for you are the reason you left. The law was written with you in mind more than once, and it lets you sign for yourself.
The short answer: yes, on two statutes and one program. Family Code §6922 lets a minor consent to their own medical, dental and vision care where the minor "is 15 years of age or older," is living "separate and apart" from parents or guardian — with or without their consent, for any length of time — and is "managing the minor's own financial affairs, regardless of the source of the minor's income."¹ Health and Safety Code §124260 lets any minor of 12 or older consent to outpatient mental health treatment or counselling where the treating professional judges the minor "mature enough to participate intelligently," and since 1 July 2024 that applies to Medi-Cal beneficiaries without the old requirement of danger or abuse.² ³ And Minor Consent Medi-Cal — limited-scope coverage a minor applies for alone — pays for outpatient mental health treatment for a person 12 or older, with no parental signature, the minor's own income reported (self-attestation accepted), and "no communication will be directed to the parents or guardians, with certain exceptions."⁴ Your parents are not liable for the cost of any of it, unless they take part in the counselling themselves.¹ ² ⁴
Statute one: care you can consent to at 15, living apart
Family Code §6922 has three conditions, and all three must hold: age 15 or older; living separate and apart from a parent or guardian, "whether with or without the parent's or guardian's consent and regardless of the duration of the separate residence"; and managing your own financial affairs, "regardless of the source of the minor's income."¹ A paycheck, a relative's cash, a program stipend — the source does not matter. The section covers medical, dental and vision care generally. Parents are not liable for it.¹ A provider may contact a parent if they can locate one and think they should; the statute permits it but does not require it.¹
Statute two: therapy you can consent to at 12, wherever you live
Health and Safety Code §124260 is the outpatient mental-health consent rule for any minor 12 or older, living at home or not, where the professional finds you mature enough to participate intelligently.² It does not extend to psychiatric medication, which still needs a parent's consent.² It requires the professional to involve a parent unless, after consulting you, they decide that involvement "would be inappropriate," and to record the decision and the reason.² For a minor living apart because of the parent, that consultation is where you say so.
Until mid-2024, Medi-Cal minors were held to an older rule that required a danger to self or others, or alleged abuse, before consenting alone. AB 665 removed that from 1 July 2024; a Medi-Cal minor now consents on the same terms as anyone else.³ Therapy at 12 →
The program: Minor Consent Medi-Cal
Consent is one thing; paying is another. Minor Consent Medi-Cal — "limited-scope Minor Consent Services" — is coverage a minor applies for alone. "A minor must apply for limited-scope Minor Consent Services themselves. Parent(s) may not apply on behalf of their minor child."⁴ For a person 12 or older it covers outpatient mental health treatment and counselling, drug and alcohol treatment, sexually transmitted infection services, and sexual-assault and family-planning services.⁴ "The parents shall not be responsible for payment"; the minor reports their own income, and "self-attestation is acceptable verification of income" if the paperwork is not to hand; and "no communication will be directed to the parents or guardians, with certain exceptions" — notices of action are not sent to the home.⁴
Two things to know before you go. You apply at the county welfare office "in person or by telephone by filling out an MC 4026."⁴ And the coverage is renewed by contact: a minor on Minor Consent Medi-Cal reports to their eligibility worker "in person or by telephone each month," with mental-health coverage able to run "up to six months" at a time.⁴ Eligibility is granted a month at a time, so keep the check-in; ask the clinic to help you keep the calendar.
What this does not need
It does not need emancipation. It does not need a court order, a social worker, or a police report. It does not need your parents to know. It does need a licensed professional — or a supervised associate or trainee — willing to make the maturity finding, and most clinics that see teens are.
Where to start
A school counsellor, a community clinic, or a teen health centre can start both the consent and the Medi-Cal application the same day. Free mental health support for kids in California → · Therapy at school in California → If you were in foster care, a different and broader set of rights applies. Foster youth mental health services → If school is the problem too, the school counsellor's own confidentiality statute is on its own page. Can a school counselor tell my parents? →
Q&A
Q: I'm 14. Does §6922 cover me? A: No — it starts at 15. But §124260 covers outpatient therapy from 12, and Minor Consent Medi-Cal covers outpatient mental health from 12.² ⁴
Q: Will my parents get a bill or a letter? A: No. Parents are not liable under either statute or the program except for costs of their own participation in counselling, and Minor Consent Medi-Cal sends no notices of action to the home.¹ ² ⁴
Q: Can I get medication this way? A: Not psychiatric medication on your own consent under §124260; that needs a parent.² Ask the clinic what routes exist in your situation.
Q: I'm 18 in three months. Should I wait? A: No. Apply now; at 18 you apply for regular Medi-Cal in your own right, and the therapist you start with can continue.
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Sources
- Cal. Family Code §6922 — consent to medical, dental and vision care by a minor "15 years of age or older" living "separate and apart" from parents or guardian "whether with or without the parent's or guardian's consent and regardless of the duration of the separate residence," and "managing the minor's own financial affairs, regardless of the source of the minor's income"; parents not liable; provider may contact a parent — california.public.law.
- Cal. Health & Safety Code §124260 — consent by a minor of 12 or older "mature enough to participate intelligently" to outpatient mental health treatment; the medication exclusion; the parental-involvement default and record-keeping duty; parents not liable — california.public.law.
- Department of Health Care Services, BHIN 24-046: Minor Consent to Outpatient Mental Health Treatment or Counseling — AB 665, effective 1 July 2024, removing the danger-or-abuse condition for Medi-Cal minors and preserving the parental-involvement consultation and record requirement — dhcs.ca.gov.
- Department of Health Care Services, Medi-Cal Eligibility Procedures Manual, Article 4V: Minor Consent — "A minor must apply for limited-scope Minor Consent Services themselves"; the covered services for minors 12 and older; "The parents shall not be responsible for payment"; the minor's own income with self-attestation accepted; "no communication will be directed to the parents or guardians, with certain exceptions"; application "in person or by telephone by filling out an MC 4026"; monthly contact and the up-to-six-month mental-health period — dhcs.ca.gov.
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