Trinity County cites CalAIM and jail health revenues as key to restoring corrections staffing

County leaders described jail health and Medi‑Cal (CalAIM) funding as a major factor in the FY2025–26 budget that is enabling Trinity County to restore correctional staffing levels and redirect deputies back to patrol.

CAO Tuthill and Health and Human Services Director Liz Hamilton said the county’s jail health and justice‑involved programs will recognize new revenue in the current fiscal year. Tuthill identified figures shown on slides and said the county has identified roughly $3.5 million and $2.5 million in relevant amounts tied to justice‑involved services and implementation plans that will be spent over the next 18 months to three years as programs are approved and begin billing.

Hamilton described implementation milestones in the behavioral health‑health and human services merge and said the county will begin recognizing revenue and related expenditures for jail health this fiscal year. “Because we’re actually implementing some of those programs in this fiscal year…we’re actually recognizing some of those revenues,” Hamilton said.

Why it matters: County officials tied jail health funding to public safety outcomes, saying the revenue and programmatic changes make it possible to fund correctional officer staffing and return patrol deputies to the streets. Sheriff’s office leadership confirmed that as of the meeting the jail had filled its allocated correctional positions and that the sheriff planned hiring for patrol deputies to improve response coverage.

Key details - CalAIM and Medi‑Cal: Tuthill and department staff said county CalAIM applications and Medi‑Cal billing partnerships are producing implementation‑phase revenues that offset some General Fund costs for justice‑involved services. Tuthill said some funds will be spent across 18 months to three years depending on state approvals and billing start dates. - Jail health staffing and operations: Health and Human Services and sheriff staff said new jail health staffing (including clinical staff and contracted services) helped shift some healthcare costs off the general fund and into billable Medi‑Cal reimbursements, enabling restoration of corrections staffing. - Probation and partnerships: Probation staff and the CAO credited cross‑department partnerships—probation, sheriff, HHS—for pursuing the Medi‑Cal billing and coordinating program implementation; probation said CalAIM grants also funded services and grant‑writing/contract administration support.

Discussion and caveats County staff repeatedly cautioned that billing and revenue recognition depend on state approvals and federal/state program timelines; Tuthill noted the implementation schedule may change as plans are approved and spending begins. Hamilton and Craig Goodman emphasized that the revenue recognition will be phased and subject to timing of program implementation and start of billing.

Ending: County leaders said the Medi‑Cal/CalAIM‑related revenue streams materially improved the fiscal position and public safety staffing outlook for FY2025–26, but they asked the board to note the remaining uncertainty tied to the timing of state approvals and program rollouts.