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San Diego County announces first $5 million of $25 million in grants for mental health

San Diego Union-Tribune - 5/24/2021

Kicking off plans to invest $25 million in mental health care infrastructure in the coming years, San Diego County will announce a $5 million grant to community organizations on Monday.

Of that first funding round, $4.7 million will go to La Maestra Clinic in City Heights to build 21 beds for patients undergoing mental health or addiction treatment. The remaining $300,000 will fund vehicles and communications upgrades for four other mental health providers.

"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 Nathan Fletcher, chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

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 San Diego over redevelopment money that was involved in litigation after the state closed redevelopment agencies in 2012. The lawsuit continued for years, Fletcher said, and in 2019 he asked city officials to consider using the money for mental health care infrastructure, no matter which side prevailed.

Fletcher posed the idea to then mayor Kevin Faulconer, suggesting they use the disputed funds for capital improvements for mental health facilities in the city of San Diego.

"If the county wins or the city wins, why don't we agree to settle our part of the lawsuit and put the $25 million into the behavioral health impact fund," he asked.

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 Hope Clinic in City Heights, said Corinne Hanson, its chief development officer. The new building will house low-income, uninsured people suffering from mental illness and addiction and features 370-square foot studio apartments including kitchens and bathrooms.

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 Community Research Foundation, which runs three crisis centers in San Diego, will receive $74,301 for three vehicles to transport people to medical appointments.

Stepping Stone Residential Treatment Center in San Diego will get $37,401 for a new vehicle to transport patients in substance abuse treatment, and a shade sail to expand outdoor space for individual and group services.

Sharp HealthCare Foundation was awarded $31,364 for WebEx Pro licenses for telehealth behavioral health sessions at Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital and Sharp McDonald Center. That will increase telehealth services for 170 people a month during the COVID-19 emergency and allow Sharp to provide group therapy for 265 people after the pandemic is over.

Jewish Family Service of San Diego also will expand its telehealth capacities with a $24,100 grant to install technology and add Wi-Fi access at two sites in San Diego. That will help the organization offer behavioral health services, education, employment, housing assistance and social services to 800 people a month.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.

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