Mental health services for children and youth are poised to expand in Monterey County.

Over the past two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, specialists at Monterey County Behavioral Health have noticed an increase in children and teens who are suffering from isolation and stress, says Director Katy Eckert. The transition back to the classroom has been especially difficult for some. It’s anecdotal – exact numbers aren’t yet available – but Eckert says they are certain the pandemic has taken its toll on the mental health of many youngsters and young adults.

This uptick in a need for services is coinciding with a societal change in approaching youth mental health services.

“There is a shift in how our world is understanding mental health needs and understanding that it’s really important for early intervention with our youth to help them grow up to be healthy adults,” Eckert says.

In a combination of serendipitous timing and more available funding for youth mental health care, Monterey County is poised to meet the increased need through the construction of a new Alisal Integrated Health Center in East Salinas on North Sanborn Road and newly available funding for the addition of treatment beds for those in short-term and longer-term crisis.

The $23.7 million health center approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2021 has been in the works for six years, with a groundbreaking taking place Thursday, March 10. The city of Salinas agreed to a land swap to make the facility possible. It received $16.25 million from the county for construction, as well as funds from the Central California Alliance for Health and the California Mental Health Services Act, approved by voters in 2004.

In addition to medical treatment, the center will bring mental health services to East Salinas in both English and Spanish. Services provided will include screening and assessment, counseling, case management, support groups, medication and residential treatment, among others. The goal, Eckert says, is to treat the “whole child” with the idea of “wrapping our arms around these children and their families to live healthy lives.”

In the meantime, the county recently received a $1.8 million grant from the California Health Facilities Financing Authority. Most of it, nearly $1.1 million, is for adding four youth crisis stabilization beds and four residential treatment beds for children and teens under age 18, as part of a renovation of an existing residential facility in Salinas. (The rest, $779,000, is for crisis stabilization treatment.) The idea is a seamless transition from short-term stabilization of those in crisis.

The focus will be on those receiving Medi-Cal or who are uninsured or undocumented residents, with a “no reject” and “no eject” policy. The hope is to avoid police involvement, hospitalizations or expensive transfers to out-of-county facilities, according to a report Eckert provided to the county’s Behavioral Health Commission in February.

Eckert calls the $1.8 million a huge piece of what’s needed to provide needed crisis beds, but adds the county will have to find additional capital funds. Ongoing costs of operation by a contractor will also need to be added to the Behavioral Health budget.