Mental Health Proposals Considered
The Lancaster City Council on Tuesday was scheduled to consider an $18.4 million development agreement with the not-for-profit Mental Health Association and InSite Development to expand and combine a facility for mental health programs and an apartment complex, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
The 20,000-square-foot facility would replace a 7,700-square-foot leased building that provides mental health care, housing assistance, job coaching, social skills training and money management training. The current facility has exceeded its capacity.
Under the proposal, the city would transfer ownership of the new mental health center to the organizations provided that it is used as an outpatient, nonresidential facility and is not used for day care.
The city also would require that 35 of the 100 apartment units in the complex be reserved for residents with disabilities and that the units be dedicated to affordable housing for 55 years. The new facility would open in 2006 (Skeen, Los Angeles Daily News, 6/26).
The San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health will hold a series of public forums to discuss how the county will use an estimated $17 million in mental health funding generated from Proposition 63, the San Bernardino Sun reports.
May Farr of the San Bernardino County Mental Health Commission, which has been working with the behavioral health department to allocate the funds, said a forum will be held in four areas of the county for residents. Forums for West Valley and Low Desert residents will be held in July.
Under the proposition, Riverside County will receive an estimated $16.7 million and Los Angeles County will receive an estimated $89.7 million.
Actual allocations will be determined by county proposals, levels of unmet need and counties' capacity to provide proposed services (Wells, San Bernardino Sun, 6/27).