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Chiesa outlines behavioral-health integration and a new regional children's campus
Summary
Chair Vito Chiesa described efforts to integrate behavioral-health, substance-use treatment and housing services, including the regional Hope Forward Children's Behavioral Health Campus and a 'single front door' program to simplify access to substance-use treatment.
Chiesa said the county is embracing California's behavioral-health transformation by creating a more connected system that brings behavioral health, substance-use treatment, housing and recovery services together.
He highlighted the Hope Forward Children's Behavioral Health Campus—a partnership with San Joaquin and Merced counties—that aims to provide specialized behavioral-health services closer to families and to make loved ones part of recovery. Chiesa also described a new single-entry program for substance-use treatment intended to make it easier for individuals and families to access care when needed.
Chiesa credited closer coordination among the behavioral-health team, the superior court, the sheriff's department, the district attorney, the public defender and probation for earlier identification of people needing care and a decline of more than 20% in incompetent-to-stand-trial determinations over the past two years, which he said reduced state hospital admissions and related penalties.
He added the county is making its largest housing investment to date for people living with serious mental illness and substance-use disorders and emphasized treatment plus stable housing and supportive services as keys to recovery.
