Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Colleen Chawla, Chief, San Mateo County Health
John Keene, Chief, San Mateo County Probation Department
Jei Africa, Director, Behavioral Health, and Recovery Services
Subject: Recommendation to Apply for Prop 1 Bond Funds Round 2 to Construct the Youth Crisis Healing Campus
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing Behavioral Health and Recovery Services to apply for Proposition 1 Bond Revenues through the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program to create the Youth Crisis Healing Campus.
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BACKGROUND:
The passage of Proposition 1 on the March 2024 ballot authorized the Behavioral Health Infrastructure Bond Act of 2024 (BHIBA), which is a $6.38 billion general obligation bond to develop an array of behavioral health treatment, residential care settings, and supportive housing to help provide appropriate care facilities for Californians experiencing mental health conditions and substance use disorders. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) was authorized to award up to $4.4 billion in BHIBA funds for Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) competitive grants.
There are two BHCIP application rounds: Round 1 - Shovel Ready ($3.3 billion) and Round 2 - Unmet Needs ($1.1 billion). Round 1 is closed, and the application deadline for Round 2 is October 28, 2025. The application requires an authorizing resolution of the Board of Supervisors that permits submission of an application, participating in the BHCIP Round 2 - Unmet Needs Request for Applications, and naming the authorized signatory for the application and supporting documents.
DISCUSSION:
Behavioral Health and Recovery Services (BHRS), after conducting community engagement meetings, conducting surveys, and interviewing stakeholders, developed three proposals to submit to the BHCIP Request for Applications, one of which is the Youth Crisis Healing Campus (the Campus). In 2021, BHRS was awarded a BHCIP planning grant that was used to create a public engagement process to identify behavioral health infrastructure needs. Youth-centric crisis stabilization and crisis residential services were identified as high priorities.
To partially address these priorities, a small youth suite, funded by a 2021 California Health Facilities Finance Authority grant, is being built within Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) at San Mateo Medical Center (SMMC). Although this is a step forward, it still offers limited separation between adults and youth and lacks a separate waiting area for caregivers. It also provides very limited youth-specific staff.
In 2023, BHRS contracted with Ohana Health Care Partners to conduct a youth crisis services evaluation to determine if youth crisis stabilization and/or youth crisis residential services are needed in the County. Ohana conducted an extensive data analysis indicating there is a need for both services and that, ideally, they should be delivered through a campus setting that brings all services to one location that is available to all youth and families. In addition, the Youth Advisory Board (YAB), which is under the Behavioral Health Commission, in partnership with BHRS, conducted a youth-specific survey in June 2025 and a youth-specific focus group in September 2025. The outcome from the work conducted by YAB to specifically raise the voices of youth living in the County further substantiates the need for both crisis stabilization and crisis residential in a youth-centric campus setting.
The current youth crisis continuum in the County has gaps that are barriers to the timely placement of youth when in crisis at Psychiatric Emergency Services at either SMMC or Mills-Peninsula Medical Center (Mills). There are limited stepdown services to adequately treat youth discharging from acute inpatient hospitalization, resulting in poor outcomes such as rehospitalizations or possible harm to youth. Youth crisis stabilization services at both SMMC and Mills are comingled with the adult population, so youth using these services today must share facilities with adults and youth have expressed difficulties this causes for them, including further traumatization. A continuum offering in-county youth centric crisis residential services and a youth centric Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility (PRTF) would close these gaps.
This project proposes to reconstitute the Camp Kemp facility at the Youth Services Center on Paul Scannell Drive in San Mateo. Camp Kemp has served as a successful program for female youth in custody by immersing the youth in programming on a pleasantly designed campus with a positive atmosphere that is separated from the male population held in the main detention facility. Over the last few years, the utilization of the facility by the Probation Department has declined to no youth, and the facility sits underutilized.
If the application is funded, BHRS would seek to expand the existing Short Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTP) license for Canyon Oaks Youth Center (COYC) to allow for four unlocked crisis residential beds and seek a new PRTF license for six or more beds. A separately licensed crisis residential program is not financially feasible, but by moving COYC to the Camp Kemp site and expanding the existing license for COYC, staff and required positions can be shared across both programs, making the approach more cost-effective. Repurposing an underutilized youth detention facility into a facility that provides healing for youth in crisis would fill critical gaps in the youth crisis services continuum and deliver positive outcomes that are difficult to achieve currently.
As milestones occur, and if the application is approved, BHRS will return with further details on the project and seek authority to make the improvements to the facility. This will also include financing details that are dependent on the success of the application.
The attached resolution allows BHRS to submit the application for funding. The resolution is based on a template required by the State DHCS. It authorizes the submission of the application and identifies the individuals authorized to submit the application and execute the various documents associated with the application. The resolution also requires that the County acknowledge the terms and conditions of the Program Funding Agreement and the distribution activities allowed by the grant.
The application and associated documents are due on October 28, 2025, and award letters will be issued in Spring 2026. If an award letter is received for this project, BHRS will return to this Board for additional approvals.
COMMUNITY IMPACT:
This project addresses special needs of the County’s most vulnerable populations, including adequately meeting the needs of those impacted by emotional and substance use-related crises that must currently share such services with adult populations that can further traumatize youth, and will fill a continuum gap related to crisis residential, providing a level of care that will help youth avoid higher levels of care and have safer stepdown from higher levels of care. Many vulnerable youth, including foster youth, justice-involved youth, LGBTQ+ youth, immigrants, and those living in under-resourced communities, continue to face disproportionate barriers in accessing timely, culturally responsive, and developmentally appropriate behavioral health care.
The proposed investment will strengthen the County’s youth behavioral health continuum by expanding crisis and stabilization services, creating safe and healing environments, and reducing the reliance on out-of-county placements. By building capacity locally, families can stay connected to their children, and youth can remain anchored in their schools, neighborhoods, and support systems.
In San Mateo County, the stark disparity between crisis services for youth and adults highlights a pressing issue of equity and access. Additionally, although most youth (80%) have private insurance, many of those in crisis seen at PES rely on public insurance (55%), revealing a gap between need and service availability. Further, rates of serious suicidal thoughts among high school youth are alarmingly high (16-18%), higher than nearby counties and the state average.
Such inequities underscore the urgent need for enhanced crisis services tailored to the developmental, cultural, and individual needs of our youth. By investing in these crucial resources, we can foster a more equitable support system that ensures every young person receives the appropriate care and resources during their most critical moments.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The total cost of the Youth Crisis Healing Campus is approximately $25 million, with a $2.5 million local match that will be funded 100% by the appraised value of the land and improvements where the project will be sited. Approximately $250,000 of the costs to move COYC would not be grant funded and would be funded by 75% of MHSA funds and 25% of realignment funds. BHRS also proposes seeking philanthropic contributions and health district funds to create a flexible reserve fund for the project