Humboldt partners secure state and private funds for county behavioral health crisis triage center

Connie Stewart, executive director of initiatives at Cal Poly Humboldt, told the Humboldt County Behavioral Health Board that a multi‑partner project to build a behavioral health crisis triage center on land provided by Mad River Community Hospital has secured major funding and is moving into design.

“This is a pretty incredible partnership between you and County Behavioral Health and Mad River Community Hospital and St. Joe’s,” Stewart said, noting the county had pledged match money and the project had received a state award. She said the county had committed $2,600,000 in match funds and that the project won roughly $12,400,000 from the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP). Stewart also cited a $2,000,000 donation from Providence Saint Joseph and a $2.5 million private foundation contribution; she said Senator Maguire added $500,000 in the state budget.

The nut graf: Project leaders described a single campus designed to provide a sobering center, crisis stabilization units (CSUs) for adults and youth, and short‑term residential beds intended to keep people out of hospital emergency departments and to facilitate warm handoffs into outpatient care.

Planners said the building will combine multiple levels of care in one site next to United Indian Health Services, with space intended for both substance use disorder and mental‑health recovery. Stewart described the facility as having a sobering area, crisis stabilization “chairs” and residential suites designed to preserve dignity: “The residential areas … were very thoughtfully designed. So there’s living rooms and other areas,” she said.

Project details provided in the presentation include 8 adult crisis stabilization chairs (referred to as “beds/chairs”), 4 child/youth crisis stabilization spaces, 10 recliners for the sobering center and 19 crisis residential beds for dual‑diagnosis care. Stewart and county staff said the project team engaged an architect that previously designed a similar model (referred to in the presentation as “Be Well” in Orange County) and worked with Mad River to site the building where it would minimize impacts on nearby residences.

County staff described a planned contracting model for operations. Oliver Gonzalez, program manager for Humboldt County Behavioral Health, said the county intends to contract with service providers rather than have Mad River run the facility: “We’ll be contracting out for services. That’s the intent of the county role,” Gonzalez said. The presentation emphasized that programming decisions — including whether medication‑assisted treatment (MAT) or peer roles will be part of services — will be developed through those contracting processes and community input.

Board members and attendees pressed on specifics. A board member asked whether minors could be treated locally rather than being transferred out of county; county staff answered that the design aims to accept minors when funded and permitted, but until the county obtains the required authorization the county would continue to transfer youth who need a higher level of care. On length of stay, presenters said crisis residential stays are expected to run roughly 30 days with some allowance up to 90 days depending on need.

Stewart and Nancy Stark, legislative and policy manager for County Health and Human Services, said the project had raised approximately $20.4 million to date and that they still expected to raise an additional roughly $4 million to complete the budget. Stewart said the team has told the state it hopes to open in 2027, while acknowledging more fundraising and design work remain.

The presentation team invited community engagement during design and emphasized culturally humble care and workforce development as central goals. Stewart and partners described planned outreach to youth groups, tribal organizations and peer networks to shape program elements and staffing.

Ending: Project leaders asked the behavioral health board to stay engaged as the team finalizes design, contracts and community outreach. They said project slides and a draft site plan would be circulated to the board for feedback and that further updates would return to the board as the RFPs and contracting details are developed.