Sonoma County supervisors approve $250,500 in mental health funding for students; additional funding set to be approved later

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors today approved $250,500 to provide behavioral health services in schools in partnership with the Sonoma County Office of Education. The funding is from Measure O, the quarter-cent sales tax measure voters approved in 2020 to fund mental health and homelessness services.

The board today also received the Measure O annual report, which highlights projects funded through the $25 million-per-year tax measure. Key projects include the opening of the Sonoma County Healing Center psychiatric health facility; funding for mobile crisis response programs across the county; and supportive housing units with case workers, mental health specialists and navigators who provide expertise in supportive and transitional housing.

“After years of school disruptions for wildfires and the isolation of the pandemic, students in Sonoma County report feeling stress and anxiety with nowhere to go for mental health help,” said Supervisor Chris Coursey, chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. “Thanks to Measure O, we are able to provide mental health services directly to the students who have the most need.”

The behavioral health school partnership will fund four new county positions for the initial phase. Over the long term, the program will provide school-based behavioral health support and interventions to schools in Sonoma County. Aspects of the program include:

• Providing schools direct access to county behavioral health staff in order to expedite referrals
• Creating four mental health teams, which will be strategically located around the county while providing consultation service by phone for school districts not in those service areas.
• Offering training for school staff in identifying students who may be experiencing behavioral health symptoms
• Providing consultation with schools regarding students experiencing urgent behavioral health issues
• Reinstituting in-person response to students experiencing a behavioral health crisis
• Linking to substance use disorder treatment services for youth and young adults

A program to address youth substance use disorder is also being developed with assistance from $2.4 million in Measure O funds. Additional funding for mental health support for students is expected to be approved later during a supplemental budgetary process.

For more information and to read more about the Measure O Annual Report, click here.

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Media Contact:
Matt Brown, Communications Specialist
publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org
(707) 565-3040  
575 Administration Drive, Suite 104A
Santa Rosa, CA 95403