Silicon Valley officials target mental health efforts at homeless shelters

Two local elected leaders are teaming up on a plan to bring behavioral health workers directly to homeless residents living in shelters.

District 2 Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong unveiled her proposal alongside San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan on Friday. The plan calls for adding another team of workers from the county Valley Homeless Healthcare Program to visit San Jose shelters and provide mental health care services starting later this year. Duong said the existing county budget will fund the proposal, but it requires approval by the Board of Supervisors at Tuesday’s meeting.

“Getting to an appointment can be half the battle,” Mahan said at a news conference inside the Guadalupe tiny home village. “We’re ending that war. We’re coming to people and meeting them where they are.”

The plan aims to streamline the county and city’s referral process under one system so homeless people in need of mental health or substance use services can get the appropriate treatment.

The city and the county have separate intake and referral systems. The county operates more than a dozen temporary housing sites in San Jose, including the Boccardo Reception Center, the largest congregate shelter, and the Julian Street Inn. San Jose runs 18 temporary housing sites, including all eight tiny home villages, safe parking sites and multiple converted hotels.

Under the coordinated system, staff would be able to assign homeless people to any shelter bed, as well as refer them to county treatment.

“There’s gaps here and there, and this is going to be how we close the gap as a first step,” Duong told San José Spotlight. “My proposal is to dovetail our system so that we’re aligned under one coordinated entry of care that allows us to have eyes on the situation. Both city and county will know exactly who’s being sent or assigned or offered which beds, and then we know exactly where to deploy our very limited resources.”

Wolfe Cevoroy, a formerly homeless resident who spent years living in a tiny home, said people living on the streets deal with depression and anxiety — and use drugs to cope. They can carry those behaviors with them when they move into shelter, he said.

“It’s really hard to deal with that,” Cevoroy told San José Spotlight. “So having that resource available to you, those programs available to you, is a great thing.”
The proposal also wants to direct more people living in San Jose shelters into permanent supportive housing, with the goal of placing people into 15 apartments per month.

“This type of cooperation by local entities gives us some real hope that while there may be challenges up ahead from federal cuts, we’ve got great actors like the city and the county that are prioritizing working together and providing the best possible services for our residents,” Destination: Home Chief Operating Officer Ray Bramson and San José Spotlight columnist, told San José Spotlight.

Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.