The Stonewall Alliance Center of Chico will not be closing, but changes are coming after state funding shifts under the new Behavioral Health Services Act. Services like business and healthcare trainings may begin charging fees, and hours could change as the center works to stay afloat for the LGBTQ community members who rely on it.
CHICO, Calif. – Mental health services offered in Butte County will soon change as the State of California shifts from the Mental Health Services Act to the Behavioral Health Services Act.
Action News Now spoke with one community organization on Thursday on how they will be preparing for a loss of funding.
For Justina Sotelo, the Stonewall Alliance Center is special in a lot of ways. Sotelo has worked as executive director of the center for the past four years.
“It has served as a lifeline to some folks,” Sotelo said.
She says her own experience with an LGBTQ center in her hometown gave her the community she was seeking, and now she helps provide that same support for others in need.
“Growing up, again, from a small agricultural community, I grew up in a very traditional household, and so I wasn’t able to find representation in a lot of things,” Sotelo said.
The center offers individual counseling and peer-led support groups to trainings for businesses, healthcare providers and educational centers. But come July 1, millions of dollars in state funding will be reallocated to a new category under behavioral health.
The shift moves funding away from community-based mental health programs and focuses instead on housing, drug abuse treatment and early intervention services.
While Stonewall provides housing support referrals among other services, they are 1 of 7 organizations that will lose funding as a result of the transition to the Behavioral Health Services Act.
“It’s a lot of uncertainty,” Sotelo said.
As some other community organizations have had to close their doors due to the change, Sotelo says they do not plan to close this center. But the uncertainty around funding could mean changes the next time you come in.
“Programs are going to shift, we are no longer funded for our training, so we may have to start charging for those more,” Sotelo said. “Our hours may have to change. Things are going to change, but it’s not going to be a closure.”
Sotelo says the organization will be relying on reserves and a network of LGBTQ centers across the state to get by.
She says Butte County needs to consider what happens when services disappear.
“Services are not available through us this outlet, what are the replacements? Because you are going to have county folks looking for support, right?” Sotelo said. “You’re going to have people looking for what used to be there, right? And so what’s in play to make sure that there’s something there to catch them.”
Around 20 to 30 percent of Butte County Behavioral Health’s total budget will be reallocated.
This year’s behavioral health budget was more than 125 million dollars.