California is investing billions of dollars to create a statewide behavioral health system that improves mental health services and facilities.
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has announced $3.3 billion in grants through the Bond Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP). The new grants will build upon California’s existing behavioral health initiatives as the state seeks to address a bed, service and treatment shortfall.
The BHCIP is funded, in part, by Proposition 1, a voter-approved general obligation bond that denotes up to $4.4 billion to the state’s behavioral health infrastructure. The legislation is designed to advance launch-ready projects that build, expand and improve the outcome of crisis and mental health services.
For this first BHCIP round, the grant funding will support the development of over 5,000 residential treatment beds and nearly 22,000 outpatient treatment slots. The funding will cover construction, acquisition and expansion costs associated with properties along with developing mobile crisis infrastructure for behavioral health.
Some of the highest-funded projects are listed below:
- $184.6 million for Riverside County’s RUHS – Wellness Center project, which will develop a general acute care hospital for behavioral health services.
- $149.7 million to Riverside County for the Harmony & Haven Children and Youth Wellness center project in Beaumont. The funding will support a residential psychiatric treatment facility.
- $137.5 million to the SJ Be Well Campus project in San Joaquin County. The project seeks to create a facility that can treat adolescents with substance abuse disorders.
- $119.1 million for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to construct the Los Angeles County Olive View Medical Center Continuum of Care Facility.
BHCIP-funded projects advance the state’s Mental Health for All initiative, which seeks to modernize healthcare delivery and improve transparency and treatment capacity. These projects also support individuals with mental health disorders, substance use disorders and those at risk of homelessness.
DHCS anticipates opening a second funding opportunity and a request for applications to the BHCIP program in May. This second round of grant funding is designed to address communities’ and businesses’ unmet needs in regard to behavioral and mental health services and facilities.
Expanding housing developments, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) will also administer up to $2 billion in Prop 1 bond funds to construct permanent housing for veterans and those at risk of homelessness or mental health disorders.
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