After a scramble to find funding, a critical eastern Shasta County mental health center that closed on July 31 will be reopening.
Supervisor Matt Plummer told the Record Searchlight on Aug. 10 that the Burney-based mental health program, Circle of Friends Wellness Center, will reopen on Aug. 17, and will be funded using opioid settlement dollars from the county.
Plummer said the opioid funds will be used for about five to six months until a new contract between the county and the program is written, allowing Circle of Friends to continue using state funding.
A new contract is needed due to state-level restructuring of the way mental health funds are allocated.
Plummer said the cost will be about $20,000 per month, totaling to about $150,000 to $200,000.
The funding will need to be retroactively approved by the Shasta County Board of Supervisors at an upcoming meeting.
Without funding under the Behavioral Health Services Act, a part of California’s Proposition 1, Circle of Friends was forced to shut down operations. The program is eligible for state funding under California’s new BH-CONNECT program, but to do so it will need to to be revamped from a wellness center into a member-driven “clubhouse.”
Hill Country CEO Jo Campbell told the Record Searchlight on Aug. 12 that the program will not implement the clubhouse model upon reopening on the 17th, but will implement it “down the road.”
Campbell said Hill Country’s intention is to return Circle of Friends to providing the same level of service that it did before closing on July 31.
The program lost one staff member in the transition between closing and reopening, but Campbell said Hill Country “pivoted some other positions to be on site to try to help cover.”
In an interview with the newspaper on July 14, Campbell said the program serves an average of 103 individuals each month and provides outreach services as well as group wellness and recovery for those with mental health struggles. It also provides “two meals a day for those who may otherwise not have eaten at all that day.”
Drew Askeland covers Redding and Shasta County government issues, as well as anything else that needs reporting for the Record Searchlight and USA Today Network. Reach him at drew.askeland@redding.com or (530) 225-8247. Please subscribe today to support our newsroom’s commitment to public service journalism.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta County mental health center soon reopening
Reporting by Drew Askeland, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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By Drew Askeland, Redding Record Searchlight | USA TODAY Network
