The County Board of Supervisors today voted unanimously to accept two grants that will allow the county to make significant investments in behavioral health services.
Grants include $12.4 million in Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program Launch Ready Grant funding from the California Department of Health Care Services and $1.2 million in Mental Health Student Services Act funding from Mental Health Services Oversight & Accountability Commission.
Acute psychiatric services
The first grant will fund the construction of a new 12-bed acute psychiatric unit within the existing Edgemoor Distinct Part Skilled Nursing Facility at Santee. Edgemoor provides long-term skilled nursing care to people with complex medical needs that require specialist interventions from highly trained staff.
The new services will help Edgemoor residents get the specialist psychiatric care they need, close to where they live. The addition will also improve access to care for other adults in need of acute psychiatric services in East County.
Once construction is complete, the new acute psychiatric unit is expected to connect people to community care, diverting them from unnecessary hospitalizations.
Youth Mental Health
The second grant will make significant investments in youth suicide prevention programs. The grant will allow the county to enhance the existing Creating Opportunity in the Prevention and Elimination of Suicide, or COPES, program.
COPES is a suicide prevention and mental health wellness education program that makes suicide prevention resources and information more accessible to school staff, students, and families.
Tuesday’s Council action will allow schools to hire additional mental health staff, provide professional development for school staff and support other strategies that meet the mental health needs of children and young people.
“Funding from these grants will help the department advance efforts to transform the behavioral health care continuum by improving services for some of the most vulnerable populations in our region,” said Dr. Luke Bergmann, Director of Services. County Behavioral Health Center. Health and Social Services Agency. “They are important parts of our ongoing work to expand and standardize behavioral health care delivery in our region.”
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