SUPERVISOR FLETCHER TO SHARE DETAILS OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY’S REIMAGINED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SYSTEM WITH WASHINGTON DC LEADERS

Supervisor Nathan Fletcher will be in Washington, D.C. to share details of San Diego County’s success in reimagining its behavioral health system; and seek support for this effort to end veteran homelessness in the 3.3-million person county.

During his visit to Washington D.C. Supervisor Fletcher will meet with the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Bipartisan Policy Center, and others.

Supervisor Fletcher’s visit to the nation’s Capital is occurring just one day after California Governor Gavin Newsom came to San Diego County to use the soon-to-be location of the County’s new regional behavioral health hub – a project Supervisor Fletcher has been working on since 2019 – as the backdrop for his announcement about statewide Mental Health Care Reform.

“San Diego County is fundamentally changing our approach and investing more in mental health and substance use treatment. We are reengineering how crisis care functions so that it is no longer our default expectation that we will see the same people over and over again in emergency and crisis care,” said Supervisor Fletcher. “We are working toward making acute care settings seamless and integrated parts of a larger whole. San Diego County is reimagining how we deliver care across the continuum, to get us to a place where mental health is treated with just as much respect as other medical issues. I am excited to share that story with the folks in D.C., learn from them, and see where partnerships may exist to help one another.”

Many other regions across the United States are facing a growing need for a reimagined way to deliver behavioral health resources. Recently, elected officials from Clark County, Nevada; San Francisco and elsewhere participated in a tour to see the progress San Diego County is making under Supervisor Fletcher’s leadership.

Supervisor Fletcher, since 2019, has been the driving force behind the transformation of San Diego County’s behavioral health system. Strengthening patient-centered mental health and substance use disorder treatment services across the continuum of care has led to a better way to address the long-term needs of patients–instead of waiting until a crisis to intervene. With this multi-pronged approach emphasizing accessibility, affordability, and bolstering the workforce, Supervisor Fletcher has led the charge to reimagine the County’s once-underfunded behavioral health system.

Some people needing assistance to manage their mental health are homeless veterans, and while the number have been declining in San Diego County, Supervisor Fletcher wants to help his community functionally end veteran homelessness. The San Diego region has nearly 700 homeless veterans and about half of those were staying in temporary shelters.

On January 20, together with a coalition of veterans and homeless advocates, he announced he was going to get the County of San Diego more involved in the fight to end veteran homelessness. In April, he will introduce a strategy to move the San Diego County region to functional zero on veteran homelessness.

The Biden Administration and Veterans Administration Secretary Denis McDonough have made a series of resources available with the goal of helping local jurisdictions end veteran homelessness. Supervisor Fletcher’s efforts will seek to leverage these resources plus local commitments to get veterans off the street and onto a better path.

“There are existing state and federal resources that must be matched with local leadership to get our veterans off the streets and into permanent housing,” said Supervisor Fletcher. “We are developing a specific and accountable plan to accomplish this important goal. The April release of our plan will be an important step on this new path to end veteran homelessness.”