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Clinicians, unions and clinics urge Sonoma County to restore CAPE teams and protect clinics amid HR1 changes
Summary
At a June 9 budget hearing, clinicians, behavioral‑health staff and community health centers urged the Board to restore CAPE school‑based crisis teams and fund indigent care as staff outlined HR1‑driven risks to Medi‑Cal and CalFresh; board members directed staff to return with options to fully restore teams and to avoid service lapses.
Members of the public filled the dais on June 9 to press the Board of Supervisors to preserve and restore behavioral‑health services cut in the recommended FY 2026–27 budget. Clinicians and program staff connected to the County’s CAPE (school‑based crisis and prevention) teams described direct work that is at risk and asked supervisors to restore add‑backs recommended by the CEO’s office.
Hilary Paffenroth, a CAPE clinician who identified herself at the podium, described the team’s role responding to high school crises and then following up with counseling and referrals. “When that call comes in, we respond immediately,” she said. Multiple CAPE staff gave metrics: one speaker said the program provided over 1,100 individual support sessions this school year and completed more than 100 crisis assessments; another said CAPE presented 63 QPR suicide‑prevention trainings reaching more than 2,000 students.
Why it matters: county staff told the board that HR1 federal changes could reduce Medi‑Cal eligibility and increase county indigent care and CalFresh cost‑share burdens; the CEO’s recommended HR1 mitigation includes time‑limited staffing that would help keep people enrolled. Several health‑center representatives and the county’s eight community health centers told supervisors HR1 threatens access to care for “over 123,000 patients” countywide and estimated more than $12 million may be needed to keep clinics solvent.
Board reaction and direction: supervisors repeatedly framed CAPE as a high priority. Vice Chair Corsi and others said they supported buying time and restoring capacity while staff work on a longer‑term strategy with school districts. Directors and staff clarified current capacity: the county is operating four CAPE field teams and said a fifth team would enable expansion into Petaluma if the board restores the vacant positions. The board asked staff to return at Friday’s adoption meeting with specific cost and funding‑source proposals to fully restore CAPE capacity.
Other community requests: union leaders and county employees urged restoring add‑backs across departments, warning layoffs would push work onto contractors and degrade institutional knowledge. Several nonprofit and health‑center speakers also asked for communications funding so residents know how HR1 changes will affect benefit eligibility.
What’s next: staff will return with costed options and identified funding sources for full CAPE restoration and for modest continued funding of senior peer counseling contracts to avoid service gaps. The board signaled support to avoid lapses while longer‑term fall planning proceeds.
