Ventura Authorizes Infusion Of Mental Health Funding To Meet Increased Demand
The Sylmar Health & Rehabilitation Center has seen a growing demand for treatment of criminal defendants found incompetent to stand trial.
Ventura County Star:
Funding Grows To Treat Mentally Ill Defendants
Ventura County has added almost $600,000 to a $1 million contract for the treatment of mentally ill residents in a locked facility in Sylmar, driven by the late opening of a county facility and increased demand. Early last week the Ventura County Board of Supervisors authorized the 55 percent increase in the contract with the Sylmar Health & Rehabilitation Center, effective through the end of the fiscal year. The infusion was needed partly because billing revenues were lost when the new county facility, the Horizon View Mental Health Rehabilitation Center, opened five months late because of construction delays. (Wilson, 3/13)
In other news from across the state —
Capital Public Radio:
Sacramento Opens Three New Warming Shelters
Three new warming centers in Sacramento have been full every night they've been open, according to the City of Sacramento. The city says 700 homeless people and families have stayed at the centers a total of 2,000 times. Emily Halcon is the Homeless Services coordinator for the city and says two centers provide a place to sleep and eat. (Moffitt, 3/13)
Orange County Register:
CSUF Public Relations Students Team Up With Local Nonprofit Organization To Raise Funds For Pediatric Cancer
Cal State Fullerton students Claire Imada and Elizabeth Gallardo are seniors in the university’s College of Communications and while they’ve been exposed to numerous public relations courses and projects throughout their time at the university, the duo agree that nothing has compared to being completely immersed in the public relations field. Imada, 22, a public relations student with a minor in Asian American studies and Gallardo, 23, a public relations student with a minor in business administration, recently became interns at the Irvine-based Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation (PCRF). (Marcos, 3/13)
East Bay Times:
Mercury Spill Forces Neighborhood Street Closure
Contra Costa County hazardous materials workers were working with federal and state staff to decontaminate a stretch of roadway closed to traffic after a mercury spill Monday... Clean-up crews with the county’s hazardous materials response team will join contractors hired by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and state Department of Toxic Substances Control to assess and decontaminate coned-off areas of the street and a sidewalk splotched with tell-tale traces of liquid mercury. (Kelly, 3/13)