A proposed behavioral health campus in Shasta County will not receive state funding, despite efforts from multiple regional partners.
REDDING, Calif. — A proposed behavioral health campus in Shasta County will not receive state funding, despite efforts from multiple regional partners.
The True North Behavioral Health project was left out of California’s allocation of more than $1 billion in behavioral health grants last week. The $206 million campus was set to expand access to behavioral health services in Northern California. It received support from 12 counties along with dozens of letters of endorsement.
Despite the project not receiving state funding, Kimberly Johnson, CEO of Arch Collaborative, says the 16-month effort did not go to waste.
“I’m a big believer in the fact that nothing is wasted. I’ve been doing this job long enough to know that every grant, or proposal or process that we’ve applied for that we did not award, did not get awarded, somehow shaped or evolved the organization and ultimately our community in so many ways… and so is the True North Campus gonna happen in the way that we imagined it? No, but I really don’t believe that anything has been wasted and I’m excited to see how it evolves although how I don’t yet know but we’re working on that right now,” Johnson said.
Johnson plans to discuss speak with the state about why the project did not receive funding.
Redding Vice Mayor Paul Dhanuka said the project can still be successful if people in Shasta County work together.
“So I’m very disappointed, however, it’s clear to me that if we want to do something we’ll have to do it ourselves. And that will require that we gotta stop tearing each other down, we gotta stop blaming each other and stop fighting with each other and start working together to make something happen that is good for our community,” Dhanuka said.
Johnson said Arch Collaborative is currently evaluating what steps can be taken moving forward and that she remains committed to bringing behavioral health services to Shasta County.