Homes for people struggling with mental illness or recovering from substance use have long flown under Santa Clara County’s radar with substandard conditions and little to no accountability. The county is attempting to right some of those wrongs, starting with a grant to help landlords make much needed repairs to improve residents’ living conditions.
Last year, the county set aside $2 million for repairs at independent living homes, funded through a Behavioral Health Bridge Housing grant. It also formed a working group to advise how the money should be spent and provide recommendations to improve conditions in these homes. A notice of funding availability is slated to open in June so landlords can apply for funding to make repairs. Funds must be used by June 2027.
“I’m feeling encouraged today by the steps that we’ve taken to address these concerns, including implementing monitoring mechanisms to ensure homes meet higher standards and introducing incentives for landlords to enhance habitability,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said at the April 8 Board of Supervisors meeting.
Independent living homes are meant to help people who have stabilized in a locked facility or residential treatment program transition back into the community. They are not required to be licensed and thus fall out of the county or state’s monitoring system. They simply provide residents with a room. Anyone can turn their property into an independent living home for people with a mental illness or substance use disorder.
With licensed residential care homes shuttering and a lack of quality housing, many residents end up being placed in substandard housing.
Lorraine Zeller, co-chair for the working group and coalition lead with the Community Living Coalition, said while the grant is a good first step, more work needs to be done. She is pushing for an independent living homes registry where the county would require the properties to meet basic standards in order to operate.
“I think (a registry) sounds like a logical idea,” Zeller told San José Spotlight.
However, it’s unclear if Santa Clara County has the authority to require homes to register, a behavioral health worker said at the meeting. Board President Otto Lee wants a closed session with county counsel to determine the county’s limitations. He also wants to explore a partnership with San Jose, which has a large number of independent living homes, to monitor the conditions.
Zeller said she envisions a city partnership that is collaborative and coordinated, involving multiple agencies. It would include law enforcement, mental health crisis responders like the Trusted Response Urgent Support Team, Adult Protective Services, the Responsible Landlord Engagement Initiative and county workers.
“Sometimes the police will respond to an issue and then the Adult Protective Services will respond to an issue at the same place. But they don’t know because they’re not working together,” Zeller said. “So if we have some kind of a database or way to communicate with each other (about) the things going on, then we can respond.”
Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.
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