$10 Million in Mental Health Contracts Approved

Auburn, Calif. – The Placer County Board of Supervisors voted June 7 to approve six different contract agreements totaling $9,758,828 to support mental health in the community.

Ranging from housing for the mentally ill to providing psychiatric services, the approved contracts allow Placer County’s Department of Health and Human Services to provide the best possible mental health services to the children, youth, adults and older adults living in the county.

Mental health services are available through HHS’ Adult System of Care and Children’s System of Care. It is the goal of the county to provide mental health treatment to those in need and return them to living healthy lives as quickly as possible.

The board approved a contract with Advocates for Mentally Ill Housing Inc. to continue providing housing for people with mental illness, which includes emergency, transitional and permanent supportive housing. This continuum of housing provides different levels of support so that people can receive the assistance they need to stay in the community, a critical part of the county’s adult mental health system.

“Supported housing programs such as those provided by AMI Housing have shown great success in improving the quality of life of each participant,” said Health and Human Services Director Jeff Brown. “Providing stable housing reduces homelessness, hospitalizations and incarcerations and ultimately saves public funds.”

The board also approved a two-year agreement with Sierra Mental Wellness Group to provide mental health crisis services, specialty mental health services, child welfare and couples counseling services. The agreement provides mental health crisis response services in eastern Placer County, 24/7, 365 days a year and provides after-hours coverage in western Placer County. The agreement also supports an after-hours crisis response staff member to be on-site at Sutter Roseville Medical Center, where approximately 70 percent of all county mental health crisis evaluations are completed.

The board also approved an agreement with Mental Health America of Northern California to provide family and youth partnership and support services through family advocates. These family advocates provide support to families receiving probation, mental health or child welfare services such as mentoring, advocacy, education and outreach. Since 2004, the family advocacy team has helped more than 9,000 Placer County families be successful by shortening court proceedings and reducing re-entry into foster care.