Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Executive
Subject: Use of District-Discretionary Measure K Funds - Supervisorial District 4
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Measure K: Adopt a resolution authorizing a one-time grant of district-discretionary Measure K funds, not to exceed $100,000, to One Life Counseling Center to support mental health care services for underserved students and families in Redwood City, North Fair Oaks, and Belle Haven, and authorizing the County Executive, or designee, to execute the grant agreement.
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BACKGROUND:
Measure K is the half-cent general sales tax initially approved by San Mateo County voters in November 2012 and extended in November 2016 for a total of thirty years.
The Board of Supervisors (Board) held study sessions on Measure K expenditures and anticipated revenue for fiscal years (FY) 2023-25, and has approved funds, divided equally among the five supervisorial districts, for one-time district-discretionary needs and projects. District 4 has submitted a request to use their district-discretionary Measure K funds as shown below and described in the Project Summary section of this memorandum:
|
District/Project |
Amount |
|
District 4 (Supervisor Warren Slocum) - One Life Counseling Center: to support mental health care services for underserved students and families in Redwood City, North Fair Oaks, and Belle Haven |
$100,000 |
This item is consistent with the criteria for district-discretionary Measure K funds approved by the Board in December 2018.
PROJECT SUMMARY:
This is a request to authorize a grant to One Life Counseling Center (One Life), and resulting grant agreement, in an amount not to exceed $100,000, to support year-round mental health services for students and families from Redwood City, North Fair Oaks, and Belle Haven. The County Executive’s Office will administer and manage the proposed agreement.
One Life Counseling Center was founded to serve the pressing mental health needs of our community’s immigrant, underserved, and uninsured and underinsured residents with evidence-based, culturally competent mental health services.
In early December of 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory on the youth mental health crisis currently affecting children across the United States. In the advisory, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy cited that “up to 1 in 5 children ages 3 to 17 in the U.S. has a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral disorder.” According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, nearly 20 percent of teenagers nationwide have considered committing suicide; a 36 percent increase from 2019. Due to the severity of this issue, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children's Hospital Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have declared this mental health crisis among children a national emergency.
In San Mateo County, mental health services are lacking for students. The 2022 Dignity Health Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA), reported decreasing access to mental healthcare providers, and increases in suicides, drug or alcohol poisoning, depression, mental health emergency room visits, youth self-harm ER visits, disconnected youth, anxiety, fear or panic, and high levels of bullying. Options for mental health care are even more limited for students who are Latinx. San Mateo County’s Access for Everyone (ACE) program to serve low-income residents with mental health therapy does not have resources for Spanish-speaking therapists, even though Census Bureau data shows that over 140,000 San Mateo County residents speak Spanish at home.
Each year, One Life receives over 1,000 referrals from schools, medical professionals, other non-profits, and previous clients, for people who are in need of mental health therapy. Since the onset of COVID, they have seen an 800 percent increase in need for bilingual therapy services as the social and economic fallout from the pandemic was particularly devasting for low-income people of color.
This Measure K grant of $100,000 will allow One Life to expand their efforts connecting underserved students and their families in Redwood City, North Fair Oaks, and Belle Haven with mental health care services. This will include: embedded mental health services through Redwood City PAL and Siena Youth Center Afterschool programs; free individual mental health counseling for undocumented K-12 students through Una Vida (San Mateo County’s first and only Latinx-led, Spanish-language mental health counseling center); and parenting support groups taught in Spanish by a licensed therapist to provide holistic support for newly immigrated families to break the cycle of generational trauma. Specifically, One Life will provide mental health services to at least 250 additional students ages 5-18 living in Redwood City, Belle Haven or North Fair Oaks and to 75 percent of the parents of those students within a year of funding.
Total Measure K Request: Not to Exceed $100,000
The release of funds will be contingent on the execution of an agreement providing for the County’s confirmation of the expenditure of funds for the purposes stated herein. The County will disburse the funds to the following organization for the purposes described above:
Suzanne Hughes
Executive Director
One Life Counseling Center
1303 San Carlos Avenue
San Carlos, CA 94070
(650) 394-5155
suzie@onelifecounselingservices.com <mailto:suzie@onelifecounselingservices.com>
PERFORMANCE MEASURES:
|
Description |
Target |
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Provide mental health services to at least 250 additional students ages 5-18 living in Redwood City, Belle Haven or North Fair Oaks and to 75% of the parents of those students during FY 2023-24. |
Complete |
The County Attorney’s Office has reviewed and approved the agreement and resolution as to form.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There are sufficient Measure K funds for this specific FY 2023-24 Measure K request. These funds are budgeted in the Non-Departmental Services FY 2023-24 Approved Recommended Budget.