Written by Nicholas Vetrisek
Last week, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved spending $25 million to upgrade behavioral health organizations. The spending was proposed last year, but the coronavirus pandemic and consequent health crisis that has resulted have motivated the recent development.
Supervisors Greg Cox and Nathan Fletcher sponsored the plan. They claim that the Behavioral Health Impact Fund will allow “community-based organizations to serve more clients for longer periods of time.” The proposal was announced by Cox on February 19, during his State of the County address.
During last week’s meeting, Cox stated “What I couldn’t predict is that we would experience a crisis like COVID-19.” Adding that the coronavirus “has shocked our healthcare system” and will impact behavioral health services.
The money is going to be used for capital investments and will come from an agreement between the City and County of San Diego. Both will have an official representative to approve funding requests.
Supervisors Jim Desmond and Kristin Gaspar both supported the fund, although they do have some concerns going forward with the plan. They pressed for more oversight, specifically asking for reports back to the Board regarding how the money is being spent and the approval of contracts. Desmond stated that he was concerned “that just two people would have the authority on $25 million without further oversight.”
In addition, Gaspar told her colleagues that the board “is responsible for every tax dollar that goes out…$25 million is a lot of money. Sometimes we lose sight of that.”
To reassure them, County Attorney Thomas Montgomery emphasized that the new fund has rules on how money can be spent, including specific criteria. “It wouldn’t be carte blanche,” Montgomery said.
Now that the Behavioral Health fund has been established, hopefully, more can be done to improve behavioral health among San Diegans.
