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Our view: Tri-Counties facing mental health crisis

By and   /   Friday, July 13th, 2018  /   1 Comment

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The region’s mental health system is, to use a non-technical term, a mess. Across the Tri-Counties, there is a severe shortfall of institutional facilities. That shortfall became even more extreme when the Thomas fire swept through the city of Ventura in early December, dealing a blow to the Vista Del Mar mental health facility. As…

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1 Comment

  1. PathPoint says:
    Monday, July 16th, 2018 at 4:53 pm

    As a provider of mental health services in the Tri-Counties region, we appreciate the light you are shining on the challenges our communities face in meeting the increasing demands of services while contending with limitations in housing and treatment options. We agree that it will take creative solutions from multiple partners to address the region’s pressing mental health needs. We have had successful partnerships with various public agencies, such as offering on-site behavioral health services at housing offered by the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara. Most recently, PathPoint has worked with the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department to co-locate mental health and drug counseling services in Santa Barbara East Side and Carpinteria clinics. Partnering with Ventura County Behavioral Health, our Life Skills Center offers a day program for individuals with chronic mental illness. In another innovative partnership with the Department of Rehabilitation and the Ventura County Behavioral Health Department, we will be supporting 200 young adults with mental health diagnoses each year to gain meaningful employment. Let’s find more ways to address our community’s short-term mental health needs and commit to finding sustainable, long-term solutions.

    Sincerely,
    Jennifer Newbold, Executive Director, PathPoint Behavioral Health
    Jennifer.Newbold@PathPoint.org