Humboldt County staff outline draft $11.27M BHSA plan, ask for public comment

Oliver Gonzalez, program manager for the county behavioral health branch, presented Humboldt County’s draft 2026–2029 Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) integrated plan and opened a 30‑day public comment period. He said the plan breaks BHSA county dollars into three core buckets — housing interventions, behavioral health services and supports (BHSS), and full service partnerships — and showed draft county allocations totaling $11,273,341.

“The first one is I plan to discuss our BHSA requirements which are pretty new along with our planning behind the scenes,” Gonzalez said during the presentation, describing the county’s objectives for outreach, early intervention and housing coordination. He told the board that the draft reflects state rules established after Proposition 63 was restructured into the BHSA and emphasized that counties must submit an integrated plan every three years with interim annual updates.

The presentation described local funding targets: approximately $3.3 million for housing interventions, $3.9 million for full‑service partnerships and $3.9 million for behavioral health services and supports. Gonzalez cautioned that the figures are draft estimates and may change before the plan goes to the Board of Supervisors on June 16 and, if approved, to the Department of Health Care Services for final implementation.

Board members asked clarifying questions about eligibility, interim versus permanent housing settings and coordination with managed care plans. Gonzalez said coordination with the county’s home program and managed care plans is central to how transitional rent and six‑month interim benefits will be delivered, and noted counties are still awaiting some state guidance on operational details.

The board will accept written comments via the BHSA comments email shared in the meeting packet and will incorporate feedback into the final integrated plan to be considered at the June 16 Board of Supervisors meeting.