CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

San Diego city and county partner on $25M behavioral health impact fund for service providers

San Diego Union-Tribune - 4/8/2020

San Diego County supervisors gave final approval Tuesday to an agreement reached with the City of San Diego to establish a $25 million behavioral health impact fund, which will pay for capital projects for mental health and substance abuse service providers.

The agreement gives service providers in San Diego the chance to seek a one-time capital investment they could use to buy, renovate or expand a building. The capital projects must expand the capacity of organizations to provide long-term treatment, supervisors said.

The fund, which after a heated discussion received unanimous approval, is financed using former redevelopment funds that had been locked up in litigation between San Diego County and several cities in the region —including the City of San Diego — since former Gov. Jerry Brown shut down the state Redevelopment Agency in 2011.

The Redevelopment Agency and its affiliated groups were forced to divest, and debate emerged between counties and cities throughout California over who was entitled to the agency's remaining funds. In San Diego County the related legal dispute between the county and several cities over about $80 million went in favor of the cities in trial court but is now in appellate court.

With the new agreement, which has been approved by the San Diego mayor and city council, the city and county commit to putting a portion of the disputed funds toward behavioral health services regardless of the ultimate outcome of the litigation.

Supervisor Greg Cox, who helped broker the deal along with Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, said the fund will help those on the frontlines who serve the most vulnerable in the community. It comes as the region's behavioral health care services are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There is no better time to act then now to support people in crisis, and we know government can't do it alone," said Cox. "Supporting our community partners is critical to getting through this crisis and continuing to serve those in need into the future."

And with many motels struggling, they're likely more open to selling their buildings to and the fund could give service providers a rare opportunity to buy them during this crisis, Cox and Fletcher said.

The board approval came after a contentious meeting Tuesday, where the deal appeared in doubt.

The agreement needed at least four votes to be approved and initially it appeared only Cox, Fletcher and Supervisor Dianne Jacob were backing the deal.

Supervisors Kristin Gaspar and Jim Desmond initially were adamant they would not support it because they did not feel the oversight mechanisms for the fund were adequate.

Under the agreement the projects green-lit for funding need to be signed off on by two people, a single representative from the city and a single representative from the county — likely someone in the county's Health and Human Services Agency.

Gaspar and Desmond argued the capital projects should have to come before the entire board before receiving approval. They also said that staff providing the board quarterly reports on the fund and projects wasn't enough oversight.

Meanwhile Jacob, Fletcher and Cox said requiring the projects to come back for full board approval was a departure from other contracts, which are regularly negotiated and awarded by county staff in various departments. They also said the money doesn't necessarily belong to the county anyway.

If the board shot down the deal now, they said, there may be a delay in reaching a new agreement, if one was reached at all.

Ultimately Desmond said he would provide the fourth "yes." The North County supervisor said he was frustrated by the process and wished there was a monetary threshold that would require some of the capital projects to go before the board.

During the vote call, Gaspar backed it as well.

___

(c)2020 The San Diego Union-Tribune

Visit The San Diego Union-Tribune at www.sandiegouniontribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.