Kern County officials decline behavioral services grant due to new proposition
Workers like Daisy Graven, a Substance Use Disorder Specialist, are asking why.
'I don't know why they would decline a state grant, because it's services that are very well needed,' said Graven.
Graven joined her local SEIU 521 colleagues on North Chester Avenue Thursday afternoon to protest what they say – the county's unwillingness to spend money.
'The past three years, the board of supervisors underspent public services by $532 million,' said Josh Armstrong, an SEIU member. 'That's why roads go unrepaired, wait times for mental health services drag on and families in crisis don't get the help they need fast enough.'
At the rally, SEIU wanted to get the word out about FixKernNow, a movement to get voters to put pressure on their supervisor for more staffing, better infrastructure and more.
Graven said that this grant was important, to help children with mental health issues.
'The younger that we're able to get people that have mental health issues, the less adults suffering that we have out on the streets,' said Graven.
The Children Crisis Residential Program was going to be used to house anyone under 18-years-old after inpatient psychiatric care.
Children leaving the mental hospital could stay there for a short amount of time, to help them get reacclimated before sending them home.
It could have also housed someone during a crisis, instead of going to a mental hospital.
This still begs the question: Why would the county ever decline grant money?
Alison Burrowes, the director of BHRS, wrote a letter to the county asking to decline the grant. Burrowes explained the grant was for costs getting the program up and running, but Behavioral Health had to pay to operate it.
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Under Proposition one, a law that passed in 2024 to reallocate behavioral health funds across the state, takes treatment funding and puts it into housing.
'So what we were providing through this funding for treatment services, now we need to shift some of those dollars, 30 percent of them, over into housing rental subsidies,' said Burrowes.
Burrowes also highlighted that BHRS was awarded a different $17 million grant for other youth programs which allowed the department to pivot.
'It's going to be used to construct a youth crisis stabilization unit, so for youth going into crisis this is a safe place for them to go, receive some short term treatment and evaluation in case they do need to be hospitalized,' said Burrowes. 'Alongside that facility is going to be a family resource center.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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