The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently unanimously approved two motions introduced by Supervisor Kathryn Barger that will make huge strides in increasing children, youth, and adults’ access to mental health and crisis care in the Antelope Valley region.
Supervisor Barger’s first motion describes the new programs that will operate once three new County-led construction projects are completed. A Crisis Residential Treatment Program (CRTP) for adults will be constructed as a single-story facility and blended in the High Desert Regional Health Center campus in central Lancaster. Adults experiencing acute mental health issues will have access to homelike bedrooms, living areas, and therapeutic spaces for healing there.
The CRTP facility will be the first of its kind in the Antelope Valley. It will offer 16 treatment beds–the maximum number of beds permitted by the federal government to receive federal reimbursement funding. The CRTP will provide a short-term alternative to hospitalization and the average stay at the CRTP may range between 14 and 21 days. It is expected to serve between 275 to 400 clients annually and has a project budget of $21,399,000.
Additionally, a new Mental Health Hub for adults and a Crisis Stabilization Unit for children and youth will be developed and co-located in another single-story facility that will also be blended into the High Desert campus. The Mental Health Hub will expand the current program housed at the High Desert Regional Health Center, which serves 850 clients per year. The addition of this hub will more than triple the number of clients that can be treated by the program, allowing a minimum of 2,650 clients to be seen annually. The hub’s project budget is $10,807,000.
The Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU), with a projected budget of $10,808,000, will offer a nine-bed facility designed to exclusively serve children and youth experiencing mental health crises 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will feature interior and exterior spaces that are developmentally appropriate, including play and family support areas. Currently, the nearest CSU is under construction over 50 miles away from the High Desert region and is located in Sylmar, at the Olive View-UCLA Medical Center campus. A minimum of 2,920 children and youth will be seen annually at the new CSU facility.
“I am proud of the County’s efforts to develop offer more mental health support for our High Desert communities,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “These three projects are a culmination of many years of hard work. Investing in creating these types of local mental health treatment settings creates a continuum of care for those who need it the most and have nowhere to go. There are acute mental health needs in the Antelope Valley region and the County is stepping up to provide residents with accessible care. Without a doubt, these programs along with their robust wraparound services will change and save lives.”
Supervisor Barger’s second motion gives the County authority to accept over $3.9 million in state funding from the California Health Facilities Financing Authority (CHFFA) to develop the new CSU in the Antelope Valley and expand the number of beds offered at the two other CSUs that exist in L.A. County, which are located at Olive View-UCLA Restorative Care Village and Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital.
Los Angeles County’s Department of Mental Health is now tasked with leading the development of the three new programs in the Antelope Valley and the County will continue shepherding the construction of the two facilities.
Renderings of the forthcoming Mental Health Hub, Crisis Stabilization Unit, and Crisis Residential Treatment Program facilities are available here. Construction is expected to start in November 2024.