County Supervisors recently awarded over $5 million in contracts to three agencies to provide mental health services to children, and adults in crisis.
The County, under funding from the State’s Mental Health Services Act of 2004, which levied a 1% income tax on those with annual adjusted incomes over $1 million, contracts with community organizations “to provide consumer services, and mental health, substance use prevention, and early intervention services.”
The MHSA monies are intended to go towards helping individuals and families with mental health needs.
SLO County Behavioral Health Director, Star Graber, and Health Agency Director, Nicholas Drews’ report said the County went out for bids last April.
The RFP got six bids and a committee of County folks sifted through and analyzed them, selecting three familiar agencies for funding.
“Family Care Network [FCN], Wilshire Community Services [WCS], and Transitions Mental Health Association [TMHA] were determined to be the proposer recommended for award.”
FCN was awarded over $1.8 million; WCS $703,000; and TMHA was awarded over $3.3 million.
FCN will provide services to children ages 0-15 “with severe emotional disturbances/serious mental illnesses who are high-end users of the Children’s System of Care, youth at risk of out-of-home care, youth with multiple placements, or those who are ineligible for Wrap Around services because they are neither wards nor dependents of the court.”
FCN also has a program to help older kids as they near adulthood, with personal and family therapy and more. “It includes,” Graber’s report said, “intensive case management, housing, and employment linkages and supports, independent living skill development, crisis response, and specialized services for those with a co-occurring disorder.
“The goal is to decrease psychiatric hospitalization, homelessness, and incarcerations while providing a bridge to individual self-sufficiency and independence.”
TMHA’s contract will focus on adults, ages 26-59 “with serious mental illness,” and once again the goal is to try and keep them out of jail. “The individual may be homeless, a frequent consumer of the Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF) or hospital emergency department services, involved with the justice system, or suffering from a co-occurring substance use disorder. The overall goal of Adult FSP is to divert adults with severe and persistent mental illness from acute or long-term institutionalization and, instead, maintain recovery in the community as independently as possible.”
TMHA’s program will also do outreach to homeless folks, 18-older, with mental illness. “They will provide outreach to the most underserved, difficult-to-reach population of homeless adults and engage clients in health care, mental health treatment, and housing.”
And WCS will focus on adults 60-older “with serious mental illness who are un-served or inappropriately served and at risk of institutional care.”
The report notes that all three of these entities already have contracts with the County and as the new fiscal year started July 1, have been continuing their services through an “interim purchase” agreement. The new contracts will be backdated to the start of the fiscal year and payments caught up.
