Two Silicon Valley elected leaders are teaming up on a plan to bring behavioral health workers directly to homeless residents living in shelters.
District 2 Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty (Yoo-IN) Duong unveiled her proposal alongside San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan on Friday.
San Jose Spotlight reports the plan calls for adding another team of workers from the county Valley Homeless Healthcare Program to visit San Jose shelters and provide mental health care services starting later this year.
Duong said the existing county budget will fund the proposal, but it requires approval by the Board of Supervisors at tomorrow’s (Tuesday) meeting.
The plan aims to streamline the county and city's referral process under one system so homeless people in need of mental health or substance abuse services can get the appropriate treatment.
The city and the county have separate intake and referral systems.
Under the coordinated system, staff would be able to assign homeless people to any shelter bed, as well as refer them to county treatment.
