San Diego County announces first $5 million of $25 million in grants for mental health
San Diego Union-TribuneMay 24, 2021
Kicking off plans to invest
Of that first funding round,
"What you have is a mix of being able to get telehealth to keep you engaged, vehicles to transport people to services and help, as well as increased actual beds for people who need those beds," said
The announcement is part of a broader county effort to improve mental health services, a priority Fletcher underscored in his State of the County address earlier this year.
The funding stems from an agreement between the city and county of
Fletcher posed the idea to then mayor
"If the county wins or the city wins, why don't we agree to settle our part of the lawsuit and put the
If local governments could offer one-time funding for buildings, transportation or other costs, clinics could increase the number of patients they care for, Fletcher said.
"We have a lot of (mental health) service providers that have ongoing reimbursement streams, but they didn't have a mechanism to get the capital costs to expand their capacity," he said.
The city agreed.
The grant to La Maestra will fund construction of a four-story transitional housing center next to its
Although transitional housing is often limited to 90 days, Hanson said this center will provide housing for six months to a year, allowing patients to address multiple issues during treatment and providing time for staff to place them in permanent housing.
"Our patients are dealing with sometimes multiple mental health issues, and lack of access to jobs and sometimes lack of culturally competent healthcare, so we provide all of that on site," she said.
The facility will have laundry, community rooms and a rooftop garden and is steps away from the clinic, she said.
"It really is part of our whole integration of primary healthcare, behavioral health and now housing as well," Hanson said.
According to the county's summary, four other agencies will divide the rest of the grant.
The
Stepping Stone Residential Treatment Center in
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