Humboldt County board hears MHSA annual update, outlines $11.2 million draft plan and seeks public input

Oliver Gonzalez, Humboldt County program manager for the Mental Health Services Act, presented a draft MHSA annual update and opened a public hearing, outlining roughly $11.2 million in proposed MHSA spending and inviting public comment through 5 p.m. the day of the hearing.

The plan presented by Gonzalez allocates the draft funding across the MHSA categories: about 70% for Community Services and Support (CSS), roughly 21% for Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI), about 5% for Innovation (INN), and roughly 2% for Workforce Education and Training (WET). Gonzalez said the county’s Full Service Partnership (FSP) programs remain a major component of CSS and highlighted planned new and continuing programs, including an early psychosis program and locally driven pilot projects.

The update described a new Humboldt Early Psychosis Intervention program (HEPI) budgeted at about $250,000 to provide individual therapy, family support, peer support, medication referrals and case management to qualifying youth. The draft also includes $112,500 for a program identified as CARE (listed in the plan as a local partnership with the City of Eureka and other jurisdictions intended to provide person- and family‑centered de‑escalation and linkage services) and about $87,000 for a…