by Carol Leish, MA
The 3-year plan (2023-2026), will outline and update the local programs and services to be funded by the MHSA and allows for a new 3-year budget plan to be created and implemented. The list of priorities to focus on for the next three years are: 1) Housing; 2) Clinical Treatment & Services; 3) Access; 4) Outreach & Education; and, 5) Alternatives to Ventura County Behavioral Health (VCBH).
This list of priorities dealing with goals, objectives and interventions are the result of nearly a year of community feedback. This has been formally referenced as the Community Program Planning Process, which is a requirement of the MHSA for the 2023-2026 plan. This included a community health needs assessment, five community listening sessions, and a community response survey, which took place over the past 12 months. The final phase is the development of a new Program and Expenditure Plan for the local MHSA funding allocation. The prior plan covered the fiscal years of 2020-2023. Proposed priorities detailed below.
The Housing priority outlines hiring additional staff to develop a specialized housing team to support clients at risk of homelessness. It also includes acquiring/developing, and/or preserving of housing along with the financial support to preserve and expand upon existing tenancy for Ventura County Behavioral Health clients.
The Clinical Treatment and services to clients is also listed. This section will include adding/expanding upon the types of treatments, cultural and indigenous practices, and other services provide by VCBH. Some examples include: 1) Expanding the role of Peers; and, 2) Increasing 24/7 community crisis response services.
Access will be enhanced by improving the continuum of care and varying levels of care. Examining timeliness in relation to levels of care will be important. Also, examining the quality improvements of opportunities around various physical locations and remote access, through computers (Zoom). Developing options for immediate response for enrolled youth will also be part of the improvement of access.
Outreach and Education will be essential for increasing the outreach capacity for vulnerable and at-risk population (i.e., in-house and via contractors). The component of expanding upon the specialized Behavioral Health Outreach Team for it to: 1) Educate around moderate-severe (VCBH domain) vs. mild-moderate (others) mental illness. Or, significant functional impairments (i.e., what VCBH can be expected to do). 2) To educate dealing with stigma reduction, substance use and impacts, trauma, diversity, racial equity, and inclusion and change across lifespan.
Outreach and Education also will deal with expanding upon media campaigns in order to target those who are within vulnerable populations at all care levels. Expanding staff and provider trainings will also be occurring.
Alternatives to VCBH will be including: 1) Developing more contracted clinical providers/options for clients in the mild-moderate category. 2) Developing more non-clinical providers/options through mini grants (e.g., drop-in-centers, after school programs, indigenous/culturally informed interventions, etc.) 3)Developing sessions based indicated upon Behavioral Health prevention interventions for high schools. 4) Developing more providers/options for those with other conditions (e.g., developments/intellectual, traumatic brain injury, dementia, etc.)
The above is a list of priorities that VCBH plans to work on over the next three years, and as funding is available. The list of priorities will be outlined in further detail in the 3-year plan and Annual Updates Reports.
