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County Supervisors today approved the region’s first Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) Integrated Plan, a three-year roadmap for how the County will use funding to support mental health care, substance use treatment and housing for people with serious behavioral health needs.
Proposition 1, adopted by voters in 2024, replaced the Mental Health Services Act with BHSA. The new law changes how counties can use state funding and requires every county in California to develop a three-year plan that lays out local priorities and how all behavioral health dollars will be allocated.
To shape the plan, the County gathered extensive community feedback over the past year, including more than 100 listening sessions and feedback from over 1,900 people and 280 organizations. People repeatedly emphasized the need for faster access to services, stronger youth support, culturally responsive care, crisis services that do not rely on law enforcement and easier navigation through the behavioral health system.
“The feedback we received from our community stakeholders has been vital in shaping our first BHSA Integrated Plan,” said Nadia Privara Brahms, director of County Behavioral Health Services. “The plan reflects the ideas shared with us, integrating things like early intervention services, additional navigation supports and culturally responsive programing.”
In its first fiscal year, the Integrated Plan reports on all behavioral health funding sources and includes a $329 million BHSA budget. The plan is expected to support more than 52,000 Medi-Cal beneficiaries annually, including more than 15,000 children, youth, and young adults. It also provides housing assistance for nearly 19,000 people.
Three Key Funding Areas
Behavioral Health Support Services– Funds crisis care, outpatient care and early intervention services. Fifty-one percent of this funding is dedicated to early intervention, with over half of that required to serve young people under age 25.
Full-Service Partnership Programs– Provides intensive, team-based support for people with complex needs.
Housing Interventions– Supports short-term housing, recovery residences, board and care beds and permanent supportive housing. Half of this funding must help people experiencing chronic homelessness.
With the Board approval now complete, the County will submit the BHSA Integrated Plan to the State and begin implementation on July 1.