County clinicians and advocates urge supervisors to preserve Crisis Stabilization Unit funding

County clinicians and community advocates urged the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on June 12 to preserve funding and staffing for the Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) and related behavioral‑health programs.

Speakers who identified themselves as CSU clinicians and county behavioral‑health specialists described CSU as a clinical, public‑safety and cost‑saving alternative to emergency departments and inpatient hospitalization. “Licensed mental‑health professionals bring a level of clinical expertise that is essential when working with our community’s most vulnerable residents,” one clinician said, urging the board not to cut CSU positions because doing so would reduce access to care and shift costs to hospitals and jails.

Other commenters said the county’s adolescent treatment program and CAEP teams provide upstream prevention that saves lives and money. A behavioral‑health clinical specialist said the adolescent treatment program currently operates with two counselors and that proposed cuts would have left just one; the speaker praised the apparent restoration of positions in the adopted package and asked the board to consider ways to expand the program.

Labor and community groups also voiced support for the budget amendments that restore CAEP and a fifth CAPE team and urged the county to invest in building internal capacity rather than outsourcing. Several speakers asked the board to plan for sustaining the funded services beyond one fiscal year and to return with a strategy in November.

The board incorporated add‑backs for CSU and CAEP staffing in the adopted budget, but several presenters warned that longer‑term sustainability will require additional funding strategies and possible renewal of Measure O or other revenue sources.