Board clears path to convert county reentry center into behavioral‑health treatment hub after defeasance, approves funding

The Napa County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously June 3 to allow the county to repurpose its reentry facility at 2200 Napa Highway as a multi‑program behavioral‑health treatment center and to approve related budget and capital project actions.

Board action: The board approved two separate sets of motions to complete the facility acquisition financing, to adopt budget amendments and to create a capital improvement project for the behavioral‑health conversion. The Community Corrections Partnership (CCP) had recommended and provided $8.2 million toward the facility purchase. Supervisors then approved a second motion to establish the new CIP and authorize an initial engineering budget.

Why this matters: County officials said the facility conversion is designed to expand local treatment capacity and meet evolving state requirements, including implementation of SB 43 changes to Lanterman‑Petris‑Short (LPS) conservatorship law and the county’s obligations under recent state behavioral health funding initiatives. Local leaders described the reconfigured campus as a way to consolidate and expand residential treatment, withdrawal management and a sobering center in one county‑owned site.

Key details from staff presentations - Jennifer Yasamoto, director of Napa County Health & Human Services, said the county had worked for months to clear legal restrictions on the property by defeasing the bonds that had limited the facility to reentry programming. She described use of the site for residential treatment and withdrawal management currently operated on Napa State Hospital grounds and said the repurposed facility would expand capacity from roughly 38 to 58 beds for residential programs. - The plan includes a designated SB 43 facility (to be licensed under a state‑approved behavioral‑health program type), a sobering center intended to divert people from emergency departments and jails, and shared clinical, kitchen and program space to increase operational efficiency. - Staff said the facility conversion would be eligible for state behavioral‑health infrastructure grants (BCHIP) and that county leaders will pursue grant funding to offset capital costs and to support operations.

Funding and formal votes - The board accepted an $8.2 million transfer from the Community Corrections Partnership to fund the facility acquisition, and the motions approved related budget adjustments and the creation of a new CIP (Project 25050) to cover design and construction. The motions included one technical correction to the staff‑recommended budget amounts in the agenda packet. All votes on the motions were unanimous.

Context and next steps - County staff said some current programs operating at Napa State Hospital will be relocated to the new facility, which staff described as safer and better suited to treatment‑oriented operations than the state hospital buildings used now. Probation currently uses space in the reentry building and will relocate so construction can proceed. - Staff will prepare grant applications for behavioral‑health infrastructure funding, complete architectural and engineering work with Public Works and issue requests for proposals for service providers to operate the treatment programs.

Ending - Supervisors described the action as a significant local investment in behavioral health and a practical step to comply with new state requirements while building treatment capacity locally. The board instructed staff to return with implementation timelines and grant strategies.