Mental Health Services

Mental health is public health—and addressing it with urgency, compassion, and coordination is a top priority during my time in office. Across Ventura County, the need for mental health and substance use services continues to grow, impacting individuals and families across every community. That’s why I am committed to ensuring sustained investment in comprehensive, life-saving care that promotes healing, stability, and long-term resilience.

Ventura County Behavioral Health has played a vital role in improving community well-being by expanding crisis intervention services, increasing access to care, and fostering partnerships that reach people where they are. As a Board member of the Behavioral Health Advisory Board, I help represent the Board of Supervisors in ensuring these efforts are supported, evaluated, and expanded.

Recent milestones highlight our commitment to meaningful progress:

• The addition of nine new beds at the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit at Hillmont to expand emergency mental health care.
• Providing funding and resources for District Attorney Nasarenko to create a Mental Health Diversion Program
• Expanding the number of beds/chairs at VCMC’s Inpatient Psychiatric Unit and Crisis Stabilization Unit
• The opening of the Health and Programming Unit (HPU) at Todd Road Jail in May 2023, offering specialized services for vulnerable inmates.
• Securing $93.7 million in Proposition 1 BHCIP grant funding to launch three major behavioral health infrastructure projects:
  • Transforming the former RAIN Transitional Living Center into a 38-bed Mental Health Rehabilitation Center with infrastructure upgrades, a community center, and a transit hub in Camarillo.
  • Developing the East County Psychiatric Health Facility, co-located with the Crisis Stabilization Unit, to improve crisis response and offer a direct path to higher-acuity care—the first facilities of their kind in East County.

These historic investments reflect our deep commitment to building a more responsive, inclusive, and sustainable behavioral health system. They are central to our broader vision of healthy, safe, and resilient communities.