Mental Health Department seeks public input

Merced County’s Mental Health Department has opened a 30-day public comment period in which community members can give feedback on how they think Mental Health Services Act funding should be used.

The public will have until May 26 to look over the three-year expenditure plan updates. A public hearing is scheduled for May 27 as part of a special Mental Health Board meeting. The meeting will take place at 1137 B St. in Merced at 5:30 p.m.

Copies of the plan can be requested by emailing Sharon Jones, the Mental Health Services Act coordinator, at sjones@co.merced.ca.us or calling (209) 381-6800, ext. 3611. To provide comments and input, people can call (866) 626-6472 or email Jones.

The department’s expenditure plan budgets $12 million from the state as a result of the Mental Health Services Act, which is to be used primarily for community service and support programs as well as prevention and early intervention.

The department had a similar public comment period last fall when the three-year plan was being drafted. The Merced County Board of Supervisors approved the department’s plan in December. The public comment period will be used to address additions and revisions made to the expenditure plan.

Jones said that anytime there is an update to the plan, the changes need to be approved by the county and the department must inform all community stakeholders. It’s part of being transparent, she said.

“Public comment is very important because there might be a perspective that we might not know about,” Jones said.

Some of the proposed changes include adding treatment options to the school-based mental health programs and adding behavioral health clinicians to local clinics. Golden Valley Health Centers and Castle Family Health Centers would each get one more behavioral health clinician.

Clinicians at health centers provide services to patients with moderate mental health needs, while the Mental Health Department is responsible for providing services to severely ill mental health patients.

Adding clinicians to health centers also helps the department extend services to the Latino population – a group that is underserved when it comes to behavioral health services, Jones said.

The department is also looking to use some of the funding for a new facility that would allow for the integration of various services under one roof.

“We call it a one-stop shop,” Jones said.

For more information, visit www.co.merced.ca.us.

This story was originally published April 28, 2015 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Mental Health Department seeks public input."