Sacramento County to review homeless, mental health program for underserved areas
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Program provides behavioral health services in four Sacramento zones.
- Project targets unsheltered homelessness and tracks housing stability and mental outcomes.
- Program costs $16,380,000 through June 30, 2029, funded mainly by MHSA and Medi-Cal.
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Tuesday will review project to provide behavioral health services to homeless residents in historically underserved neighborhoods.
The county’s Department of Health Services oversees the Community Defined Wellness Practices Program, which offers mental health assistance in Fruitridge Pocket, Valley Hi/North Laguna, Lemon Hill in south Sacramento and Glenwood Meadows in North Sacramento through a housing project.
According to the county’s 2024 homeless management data, these areas have “some of the highest concentrations” of homelessness in the county and gone without mental health services historically.
“(The Community-Defined Wellness Project) pilots culturally rooted nontraditional wellness approaches shaped by local experiences and values, filling gaps left by mainstream behavioral models while improving wellness and social determinants of health,” wrote Lisa Kelly, the county’s mental health program coordinator.
More than 6,615 people experienced homelessness in Sacramento County, according the 2024 Point-In-Time Count. More than 2,000 of those surveyed had a serious mental illness, the report stated.
This program will conduct outreach for youth and adults in homeless encampments, “community spaces,” and local neighborhoods, according to the project’s contractor agreement with Sacramento County.
Project’s goal
The goal of the project includes reducing unsheltered homelessness, offer better access to housing, improve medication and behavioral health treatment, engagement and retention within services, according to the contract.
The effectiveness of the program will be measured by homelessness reductions, data on housing stability and mental health outcomes, the contract states.
The program’s contract pool would cost the county $16,380,000 from the beginning of the board’s approval until June 30, 2029.
Known as the Unhoused Individuals INN Project, the county has the following five objectives:
- Provide “community-driven” behavioral health engagement for the program’s regions.
- Improve current outreach and engagement services to frequently homeless residents.
- Implement mental health services in community-based initiatives that will have “long-term sustainability.”
- Allow “flexible funding” for services not covered by Medi-Cal funds.
- Increase the county’s “peer workforce” within behavioral health services to assist residents who are at risk of being homeless or are experiencing homelessness.
Project’s funds
If approved, this program will be financed through the Mental Health Services Act, Medi-Cal and the Mental Health Medi-Cal Administrative Activities fund.
The majority of funding comes from the Mental Health Services Act, which passed as Proposition 63 in 2004. In line with Prop 63, Sacramento County will partner with community organizations to improve access to care, as well as quality of services and collaboration. The Unhoused Individuals INN Project is aligned with this requirement, according to a report from the Department of Health Services.
In December 2023, the Board of Supervisors approved the project’s INN7 plan. After this, the Department of Health Services began working with “community-based” organizations to identify ZIP codes that needed services.
Alongside providing wellness practices, the project also seeks to reduce “disparities in homeless data,” according to the county’s report.
The Board of Supervisors meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday at 700 H Street, Suite 1450. The meeting can also be livestreamed at metro14live.saccounty.gov.
