Governor Newsom announces new projects helping expand mental health care capacity and treatment statewide

SACRAMENTO – California is continuing its landmark transformation of the behavioral health care system, advancing Governor Gavin Newsom’s strategies to create more treatment, more support, and repair a system suffering from decades of neglect. Kicking off Mental Health Awareness Month, the state is highlighting recent projects that will help expand behavioral health treatment capacity, crisis and residential services, and a more responsive continuum of care.

Ending California’s mental health crisis

The projects were funded by the state’s Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) and Bond BHCIP grants, managed by the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). Bond BHCIP awards are funded through Proposition 1, which was approved by voters in 2024. Bond BHCIP builds upon the foundation of the earlier BHCIP initiative, which began in 2021 in partnership with the Legislature and was previously funded through the state budget.

Programs such as BHCIP and Bond BHCIP have helped create more residential and crisis treatment centers statewide.  

• Since 2021, BHCIP and Bond BHCIP have awarded a total of $5.8 billion to expand behavioral health resources and infrastructure. This has resulted in 437 projects across 546 behavioral health facilities, which will create 9,553 new beds and 47,163 new outpatient slots projected to serve more than 5.4 million individuals annually. 

• Through Bond BHCIP alone, the state has now delivered to local communities a combined 6,919 residential treatment beds and 27,561 outpatient slots, exceeding Proposition 1 statewide goals in just two years and supporting 177 projects across 333 facilities. 

Together, these efforts help strengthen the state’s long‑term community‑based behavioral health infrastructure – and have helped  California achieve the first statewide reduction in unsheltered homelessness in 15 years — a 9% drop. 

“These investments are transforming the behavioral health landscape in every corner of the state,” said California Health & Human Services Secretary Kim Johnson. “By partnering with counties, Tribal communities, and local providers, we are expanding access to high‑quality care and strengthening the continuum of services that Californians rely on. The progress this quarter shows the impact we can achieve when we work together with urgency and purpose.”

“Every groundbreaking and every new facility reflects our commitment to building a behavioral health system that truly serves Californians,” said DHCS Director Michelle Baass. “With Proposition 1 and BHCIP, we are expanding capacity, reducing barriers to care, and supporting providers who are delivering life‑changing treatment. We are grateful to our partners across the state who are helping make this progress possible.

With projects moving rapidly from planning to construction, the state continues to exceed its capacity goals for new residential beds and outpatient treatment slots while prioritizing investment in Tribal, rural, and underserved regions. This release reflects the cumulative impact of all BHCIP and Bond BHCIP grant rounds. Here are just some of the projects with recent updates throughout the state:

Strengthening Rural Treatment Capacity

• Mendocino County: Redwood Quality Management Company hosted an open house for their brand-new Anchor Rehabilitation Center Project to create a mental health rehabilitation center with 16 beds and an intensive outpatient treatment facility with 695 slots, projected to serve 172,360 individuals annually. This project received $4.6 million in BHCIP Round 3: Launch Ready grant funds to help meet the community’s need for behavioral health services.

• Nevada County: Nevada County Behavioral Health and regional partners broke ground on the Rural Counties Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF)/Mental Health Rehabilitation Center (MHRC) project, supported by a $23.7 million Bond BHCIP Round 1 investment. The project will add an eight‑bed PHF and eight‑bed MHRC, expanding local, recovery‑focused treatment and reducing reliance on out‑of‑county placements.

• San Diego County: Inner‑Tribal Treatment and partners began construction on a 60‑bed adult residential Inner‑Tribal Wellness Village substance use disorder (SUD) facility and community mental health clinic offering 120 outpatient slots. Nearly $20 million in Bond BHCIP Round 1 funding will support services for an estimated 500 individuals annually across Tribal communities in San Diego County.

Expanding residential and recovery treatment

• Alameda County: Telecare Corporation broke ground on a new social rehabilitation facility in Oakland. This new facility, funded through BHCIP Round 3: Launch Ready with an award of $4.5 million, will add 16 new social rehabilitation facility beds to strengthen the community’s mental health infrastructure. The facility will provide 24/7 crisis care, including mental health and SUD screenings, therapeutic interventions, and discharge planning to ensure ongoing support.

• Los Angeles County: Homeboy Industries and community partners broke ground on Home of the Angels, a Bond BHCIP Round 1 campus model project supported by $24.9 million. The project includes a 50‑bed adult residential SUD treatment facility, a 10‑bed peer respite program, and 320 outpatient SUD treatment slots, expanding modern, community‑based alternatives to institutional care.

• Los Angeles County: Rancho San Antonio and partners broke ground on No Wrong Door, a BHCIP Round 4 project expanding outpatient services for children, transitional‑age youth, and families. Supported by nearly $4.2 million, the project will deliver 95 combined outpatient treatment slots across community mental health, youth prevention, and SUD services—expected to serve more than 23,000 individuals annually.

• Los Angeles County: With approximately $65 million in Bond BHCIP Round 1: Launch Ready funding, Los Angeles County broke ground on two 16‑bed MHRCs on the Metropolitan State Hospital campus. The project represents a modern, 24‑hour community‑based treatment, particularly for transition‑age youth.

• Madera County: Backed by approximately $25 million in BHCIP Round 5 funding, Madera County and partners broke ground on a new 16‑bed crisis stabilization unit and a sobering center with 10 outpatient slots. The new facilities are expected to serve more than 3,650 people annually, enhancing crisis response and stabilizing care for youth and adults in the Central Valley

• San Diego County: San Diego County broke ground on a new 12‑bed acute psychiatric hospital supported by $16.76 million in BHCIP Round 5 funds. The project expands local hospital‑level care and provides a modern alternative to more restrictive placements for residents with serious mental health needs.

Building a stronger mental health system 

Proposition 1 and BHCIP fit within a broader behavioral health strategy, Mental Health for All, which represents California’s continued commitment to responsibly investing public dollars to strengthen the state’s behavioral health system. Launched under Governor Gavin Newsom’s leadership, this bold initiative is building a stronger, more equitable, and more accountable behavioral health system for Californians across their lifespans. 

From addressing the crisis of loneliness in young men through the state’s Path and Purpose Initiative, strengthening tools like the 988 suicide hotline, expanding community mental health supports, building stronger prevention strategies, improving reentry through more robust reentry strategies, building more housing and support, creating stronger trauma and crisis response for children, investing in California’s behaviorlal health workforce and establishing a first-in-the nation CARE Court process to help severally mentally ill people treatment, Governor Newsom is repairing a broken system that has suffered from decades of neglect. 

This neglect began under then-Governor Reagan’s administration, when state hospitals were closed, and no adequate alternative was provided, leaving people most in need of help to fall into the criminal justice system or homelessness. This created a generational impact. 

Today, across California, individuals with untreated psychosis are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness and 16 times more likely to be incarcerated. Through the many programs and strategies of California’s strong behavioral health continuum, the state is turning this crisis around.