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Residents and peer-run program leaders urge county to pause Proposition 1 cuts that would end peer services
Summary
Multiple peer-run organizations and residents told the Board of Supervisors that proposed BHSA/Proposition 1-driven budget cuts would decimate peer support services across Alameda County and urged emergency bridge funding, transitions supports and inclusion of peers in planning.
Dozens of speakers representing peer-run behavioral health programs told the Alameda County Board of Supervisors that imminent cuts tied to the Behavioral Health Services Act (Prop 1) transition could shutter long-standing peer services and remove vital crisis-prevention supports.
Zakiya Johnson, a program manager at PEERS, said those peer supports are scheduled for cuts next fiscal year and described the programs as essential to community recovery and stability. "If these programs become no more, so many people's mental health will be harmed," she said, asking the board to reconsider the proposed reductions.
Several organizational leaders said the scale of reductions varies by program but could be catastrophic. Lynn Rivas, executive director of the California Association of Mental Health Peer Run Organizations, said Alameda County cuts were "extreme," citing examples including one program that would become fully unfunded and others facing large percentage reductions. "These peer organizations serve as models for effective peer work across the state," Rivas said.
Katrina Killian, executive director of the Peer Wellness Collective, told the board that peer-run services have decades-long histories in the county and play an outsized role in preventing hospitalizations and supporting people with lived experience. "Cutting peer support is not cost saving in the long run," Killian said, urging the board to consider emergency funding, transition support and to include peer leaders in BHSA planning.
Why it matters: Speakers described peer supports as a unique point of access for people with lived experience, reducing isolation and preventing crises that otherwise escalate into law-enforcement or hospital interventions. Commenters warned that losing these programs would disproportionately affect Black, Latino and AAPI communities and could increase emergency service use.
Board response and next steps: In opening remarks the board acknowledged anxiety about Proposition 1 and indicated support for identifying transitional bridge funding. Supervisor Marquez said his office would pursue collaborative options to address the impacts and encouraged constituents to review his earlier opening remarks when the meeting video is posted.
What remains unresolved: Testimony identified a range of numbers and local impacts (speakers cited program cuts ranging from 30% to 100% in different agencies); the county did not provide program-by-program budget figures in the public comment portion of the meeting. The board did not take a vote during the session but instructed staff and supervisors to pursue options for transitional funding and further review.
