Mental health programs at risk of cuts in proposed Santa Cruz County budget
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) -- Newly proposed budget cuts could put critical mental health programs and jobs at risk in Santa Cruz County.
It’s a budget built on hard choices with a $1.23 billion budget proposal to keep Santa Cruz County financially stable. Yet, it could mean slashing mental health services and staff.
"We're also seeing a decline in grants. Some of our grants are ending. We're also seeing a reduction in the revenue that we're bringing in through other funding sources that our revenue-generating programs," says Monica Morales, Health Services Agency Director for Santa Cruz County.
The Health Services Agency faces a $9 million cut and the elimination of 74 jobs.
Most of those roles are currently unfilled, but around a dozen are real staff roles, as the county shifts focus to only required services.
"Unfortunately, it is a situation where we're not able to balance our budget, and the only way to do so is by doing reductions," Morales said.
Cuts could also mean a complete loss of funding for the Mental Health Client Action Network, a resource that’s helped thousands over the past two decades.
"This would harm, not only businesses, but it will be the ripple effects will be, felt throughout across the county, both in jails as well as public health services, as well as, emergency rooms closing our facility would cause more, funding, more exponential, loss of funding for the county," MHCAN executive director Tyler Starkman said.
Programs supporting suicide prevention, court-involved individuals with mental health needs, and housing for people coming out of jail are among those that could lose funding.
"These programs are very valuable, but they're not core mandated services for behavioral health. And so unfortunately, we had to make very difficult decisions to proposals as potential cuts," Morales said.
With no guarantee of local funding, the county is encouraging these programs to look for support from outside sources
"We serve about 50 clients a day, and they have no answer to where they're going to go," says Starkman.
The county is seeing about an $11.1 million drop in revenue for the Health Service Agency, due to lower medical reimbursements, billing restrictions under CalAIM, and cuts to funding from the Mental Health Services Act.
The budget’s been proposed, but it’s not final. The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will vote on june 10th.
