Stanislaus County leaders say mental health spending proposals need more work

Stanislaus County supervisors rejected several proposals Tuesday for spending mental health funding from the state, telling staff to keep working on the programs.

Supervisor Jim DeMartini said he was concerned the programs would benefit a small number of people at considerable expense.

Chief Executive Officer Stan Risen said Tuesday’s presentation could have done more to explain the costs and benefits, and he accepted the responsibility for that. Officials with Behavioral Health and Recovery Services are expected to return to the board with reworked proposals later this month.

One effort would focus on outreach, case management and mental health services for 24 children at a time. The program for emotionally disturbed children ages 6 to 17 would attempt to reduce psychiatric hospitalizations, incarceration and homelessness.

Children are sent outside the county – to the Bay Area or as far as Los Angeles – if they need hospital care for a mental health crisis. The ambulance ride is difficult for the children and the county’s costs are $1,000 for every day in the hospital.

“It is much more than the dollars,” BHRS Director Madelyn Schlaepfer said. “I cannot imagine how traumatic it is” for the families.

The county is responsible for four to 12 children in inpatient psychiatric facilities daily.

After local groups took part in roundtable discussions on spending the Mental Health Services Act funding, BHRS also wants to try crisis intervention to stabilize children so they don’t need to be admitted to hospitals. Crisis intervention has worked well with adults, staff said.

The county would spend around $3.6 million on the proposals over three years. Other proposed services included mentoring and training to create job opportunities for adults with mental disorders and a project to build four supportive housing apartments and a community resource center at 522 E. Granger Ave. in Modesto.

The housing project would use $490,000 in Mental Health Services Act funding, coupled with federal housing funds from the city of Modesto.

Supervisor Bill O’Brien said the housing project would not provide much bang for the buck, at a time when the county needs more supportive housing for homeless adults who are mentally ill.

The spending proposals are part of an updated Mental Health Services Act plan for the 2015-16 fiscal year. Schlaepfer said the county after three years will have to return unspent funds that were allocated by the state.

The funding comes from Proposition 63, or the so-called millionaire’s tax, approved by California voters in 2004 to expand mental health services and intervention programs at the local level.

This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Stanislaus County leaders say mental health spending proposals need more work."