Stanislaus County to work on homeless court, county island upgrades and jobs in 2023
Stanislaus County leaders hope to make significant progress in 2023 on goals such as reducing homelessness and creating good jobs, as the COVID-19 shutdowns fade into the past.
Supervisors said the county will press forward with improvements in county unincorporated “islands,” which are funded by $50 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars.
Other priority efforts include a new approach for reducing homelessness, the Stanislaus 2030 economic development plan and an after-hours medical facility in Patterson to serve the western portion of Stanislaus County.
Channce Condit, the youngest supervisor, is taking over as Board of Supervisors chairman and will oversee his first regular board meeting Jan. 10.
Stanislaus is in the first cohort of counties working to implement the state’s CARE Court initiative, designed to bring new hope to homeless people with untreated mental illness or drug addiction.
Supervisor Terry Withrow, the board chairman last year, said the county has made progress with access centers and supportive housing for homeless people who want help, but a new strategy will focus on those “who don’t want help” and don’t voluntarily go into treatment for their mental disorders or drug addiction.
The county is developing a CARE Court program with the Public Defender’s Office, Superior Court and the Sheriff’s Department to move these people off the streets and into treatment without violating their civil liberties, Withrow said.
“This is all about getting them treatment to save their lives,” he said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has endorsed the program. Homeless people with severe mental illness could be referred to a CARE Court judge, who may order them to participate in a plan for treating their disorder or drug addiction.
The program would stop short of forcible medication or incarceration for refusing a treatment regimen.
Withrow said many of these individuals have warrants for failure to appear in court or other violations. In certain cases, an arrest could be the first step in getting them into a treatment plan, Withrow said.
He stressed that people with drug addiction and untreated mental illness are dying on the streets.
County islands and a medical facility
The largest chunk of spending for sidewalks, drainage and other upgrades in county islands is $16 million in Condit’s supervisorial district. The county will spend $10 million in ARPA funds in the Bret Harte area and $6 million in the Parklawn neighborhood of south Modesto.
The ARPA funding also will pay for basic improvements in the Colorado-Rouse area of Modesto, the Herndon Road section of Ceres and the Riverdale Park Tract.
Condit said he expects to make significant progress in the new year on a medical facility serving the western portion of the county. The facility, operating after hours and on weekends, will be a step above urgent care and have medical personnel who can X-ray broken bones or stabilize a person injured in a car crash.
Most likely, the facility will be located in Patterson because the city is a hub for population growth. “We are making some significant progress behind the scenes,” Condit said.
Condit’s district also includes the Diablo Grande resort that struggles with funding of water and sewer service for the current 600 homes.
Condit said he’s been talking with the Diablo Grande homeowners association and Western Hills Water District board members since taking office two years ago.
He said he doesn’t see the county trying to bail out the Western Hills district, which owes $5.5 million for water transfers for Diablo Grande and is past due on $1.7 million owed to Patterson for wastewater treatment.
“We have offered to be a resource for them and to connect them to state representatives and federal partners,” Condit said. “I am interested in trying to recruit a developer who is real and wants to build out the housing project. That is what we need to happen.”
Officials have said that another 1,800 homes at Diablo Grande are needed to cover the costs of water and sewer service.
Good jobs are a priority
Supervisor Mani Grewal, whose district includes most of Modesto, said county relations with the city are good, with a property tax agreement last year and passage of the Measure H sales tax in November.
Grewal is on the executive committee for the Stanislaus 2030 initiative for creating tens of thousands of living-wage jobs and promoting bioindustrial manufacturing to boost the local economy.
“We have a blueprint (for Stanislaus 2030) and now we can work on implementation,” Grewal said last month. “The next step is: How are we going to implement this, not just with public-sector dollars but with private-sector investments as well?”
Grewal said he is also supportive of the CARE Court pilot program.
In addition, Grewal hopes to see more progress this year on projects in Modesto, such as the Children’s Museum and the Graffiti USA Museum, which are expected to attract visitors from outside the county.
