In the face of the nation's mental health crisis, California announced an additional $518.5 million in grants to help provide services and housing options for people with serious mental illness or substance abuse issues, including those living on the streets.
The funds, the governor said Gavin Newsom, will provide treatment beds for more than a thousand people at a time, plus behavioral health services for many more.
The extra support is part of a $2.2 billion effort to expand housing and mental health services in California, especially for the homeless.
The Governor announced the latest grants during a meeting with families who have loved ones facing serious mental illness, many of whom are homeless.
“The crisis on our streets is at a breaking point. Too many Californians are struggling with mental illness and substance abuse, and too many of them end up on our streets. We need to change the way we provide help to those who need it, and these grants are an important step in shifting our approach to homelessness and serious mental illness,” Newsom said.
The Governor’s meeting in Sacramento with members of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) on Monday included families caring for loved ones struggling with mental health or behavioral disorders who CARE Court could help with.
The Governor listened to their stories and talked about the historic actions California is taking to address this crisis.
In that regard, she noted that CARE Court will provide Californians suffering from untreated schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders with community-based treatment, services and housing, and is intended to serve as a preliminary intervention for Californians with more severe disabilities.
“Governor Newsom has the full support of NAMI to get CARE Court across the finish line,” said Jessica Cruz, executive director of NAMI CA. “We are here today to show our commitment to providing help, hope and health to people affected by serious mental illness by supporting initiatives like CARE Court, which will bring much-needed help to Californians who need it most.”
The awards announced Monday will be made through the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP), Round 3: Launch Ready grants.
In total, the Legislature and Governor provided $2.2 billion to build, acquire and expand behavioral health facilities and community care options while investing in mobile crisis infrastructure.
Subgrants were awarded to Alameda County ($18,405,122), El Dorado County ($2,852,182), Humboldt County ($4,170,560), Kern County ($3,138,065), Los Angeles County ($155,172,811), Madera County ($2,035,512), Mendocino County ($7,711,800), Monterey County ($3,558,670), Nevada County ($4,458,799), Orange County ($10,000,000), Placer County ($6,519,015), Riverside County ($3,138,065), and Yuma County ($10,000,000). –$103,181,728‒, Sacramento –$30,553,889‒, San Diego –$30,874,411‒, San Francisco –$6,750,000‒, Santa Barbara –$2,914,224‒, Santa Clara –$54,074,660‒, Solano –$14,332,411‒, Sonoma –$9,751,915‒, Stanislaus –$33,369,900‒, and Yolo –$12,500,000‒.
Recipients of BHCIP Launch Ready grants include cities, counties, tribal entities, nonprofit and for-profit organizations throughout the state that serve target populations.
The next round of funding will include more than $480 million focused on behavioral health issues in children and youth. Awards will be made this fall.
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