Share input, help improve plan to provide mental health services to unhoused

Give input on a plan to provide mental health services to people who are unhoused by creating a wellness center that would be located at encampments.

This mobile wellness center proposed by Berkeley Mental Health would be staffed by a team of peers, including those from encampment communities in Berkeley, who can offer culturally-specific services.

The plan would include:

• Trauma informed wellness services, such as medication counseling and peer-led wellness services
• Benefits navigation and enrollment, such as with Medi-Cal, Medicaid and Veterans services
• Food and hygiene support, such as showers, laundry and toiletries
• Enrichment, such as storage or classes for movement, exercise

We know many unhoused individuals are eligible for existing programs, but choose not to engage in them. Using input from those who have been homeless or on the brink of it, this effort is a short-term pilot project to increase wellness among people who are unhoused.

A central theme of the input received from those who have experienced homelessness is that services should support wellness in creative ways, without assuming that psychiatric or clinical intervention is appropriate for everyone.

Community members shared that service delivery should be adaptive and offer a diverse menu of services.

Learn more about the Mobile Wellness Center Plan. Give your input in one of several ways.

Learn, give input at public hearing

Help us identify new ways to provide mental health support to some of our most vulnerable residents at an upcoming virtual public hearing.

You can also provide feedback using mail, email, or phone until 5pm on Jan. 26.

This plan is one piece of Berkeley Mental Health's use of state funding dedicated to serving those in highest need. Help inform new ways to meet mental health needs of our unhoused community.

Providing customizable services to Berkeley's unhoused population

The Mobile Wellness Center Plan outlines the use of $2.8 million in funding over a five-year period from the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), state legislation approved by voters in November 2004 that places a 1% tax on every dollar of personal income over $1 million. 

The State allocates these revenues for local mental health divisions, like the City of Berkeley's, for the purpose of transforming and expanding mental health services. 

The final plan will be submitted to the Berkeley City Council and the State Mental Health Oversight and Accountability Commission for approval. 

Improving mental health in Berkeley

Berkeley Mental Health provides a wide range of services, primarily aimed at individuals who have serious mental health illness and major improvements and who have Medi-Cal or no insurance.  Berkeley is one of only two California cities with a mental health division.  Almost all of the funding comes from state and federal sources.

Having our own Mental Health Division gives the City of Berkeley freedom to tailor services closely to our community needs.  Berkeley Mental Health has a significant focus on increasing access to mental health services, offering walk-in hours and, for several decades, having a Mobile Crisis Team to help people suffering from mental health crises.  We have a significant focus on helping people who are unhoused, including guiding them into long-term supportive housing.

Let us know your thoughts by phone, email, or mail by January 26 on this Mental Health Wellness Plan, or share your feedback at our January 27 public hearing.

Links

• Mobile Wellness Center Plan (Berkeley Mental Health)