Davis Announces $16.6M in Housing, Medical Services Grants for Homeless with Mental Illness
Gov. Gray Davis (D) on Sunday announced $16.6 million in grants for 14 private, not-for-profit and local government agencies to help provide housing and other services for low-income homeless people with mental illness and other health conditions, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports (Haussler, AP/Contra Costa Times, 4/22). The grants, part of the state Mental Health Initiative, will fund the Supportive Housing Initiative Act, which provides affordable housing to homeless people with mental illness, HIV/AIDS, chronic health conditions or substance abuse problems. The Department of Mental Health will administer the grants, which recipients can use to cover the cost of staff salaries, case managers and peer advocates to "secure housing and assist residents in obtaining supportive services" such as medical care. The three-year grants, which range from $166,000 to $2.6 million, will allow the 14 agencies to serve about 3,162 homeless state residents (Office of the Governor release, 4/21). DMH Director Stephen Mayberg said that the grant program will save the state about $23 million in hospital and jail costs (Gledhill, San Francisco Chronicle, 4/22).
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