Mission Street Recovery Station sees increased use; county staff asked to study gaps for stays longer than 24 hours

The Santa Clara County Public Safety & Justice Committee on April 10 received a report on the Mission Street Recovery Station (MSRS), a county-supported sobering and recovery site that provides short-term stabilization, referrals to treatment, and housing navigation.

Committee members and county staff described a steady increase in use and raised questions about repeat clients, referral sources and the legal limit on how long people can stay. Supervisor Cindy Ellenberg and Supervisor Susan Lee pressed for clearer tracking and options for people who need more than the facility’s statutory 23 hours and 59 minutes.

MSRS is operated under contract by a community provider, Horizon, and provides services to people released from custody, transported from law enforcement as alternatives to booking, and walk-ins who need a safe place to rest and be connected to treatment. County and contractor staff said utilization has increased; average daytime occupancy is roughly 12–15 clients of a 20-client capacity, with leftover capacity on many days. Staff said about 40% of referrals come from behavioral-health contractors and a significant share are walk-ins or referrals from the county’s Reentry Resource Center and San Jose Police Department partnerships.

Deputy Chief Brian Spears of the San Jose Police Department described the facility as an important option for officers and said the department requires trainees to visit and use the center when appropriate. Javier (Office of Diversion and Reentry Services) and Stephanie McWhorter (Behavioral Health Services, system-of-care director) said Horizon has flexed staffing to meet demand and is improving data collection on repeat users and referral pathways.

County staff and contractors discussed several operational limits. Under current Medi‑Cal rules for “community supports,” the facility’s maximum stay is 23 hours, 59 minutes; staying longer would change the program’s licensing and billing requirements. That regulatory limit, plus capacity constraints across substance‑use and mental‑health treatment beds, are the principal barriers to extending stays for people who need more than a day of stabilization, staff said.

Community providers and people with lived experience urged more flexibility. Paul Sloot, a frequent user who identified himself as unhoused, asked the county to consider pilot options such as permitting a small number of clients to stay 48 hours, and urged easier transport between related facilities. County staff said they can explore those ideas but cautioned that changes could require different licensing, funding or Medi‑Cal reimbursement.

Supervisors and staff identified two near‑term operational priorities: improving data sharing between MSRS, managed‑care and custodial health when clients consent, and performing a deeper “high‑utilizer” analysis to identify why repeat clients come back and which referral pathways are most common. Staff agreed to pursue those two items and produce follow‑up information for the board on whether additional funding or billing changes could allow longer stabilization stays for a subset of clients.

The committee voted to receive the report. Vice Chair Lee voted aye; Chair Ellenberg voted yes. Supervisor Lee asked staff to return with a legislative file that examines options to address the gap for people who need more than 24 hours of stabilization and to clarify whether Medi‑Cal/CalAIM billing or other revenue can be used to extend stays or provide contiguous housing/treatment options.

Why it matters: MSRS is part of the county’s strategy to divert people with substance use or behavioral‑health crises from arrest and booking into community care. Staff and providers told the committee that better triage, consented data sharing and modest operational changes could increase the facility’s impact, but that statutory/contractual limits and treatment‑bed shortages are immediate constraints.

What’s next: Staff agreed to collect and return with a more detailed utilization and high‑utilizer analysis, clarify referral sources, and outline feasible options (including reimbursement pathways) to address cases that would benefit from stays longer than 23 hours, 59 minutes. The committee also directed staff to continue outreach to law‑enforcement partners to ensure officers can reliably route appropriate people to MSRS.