The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will discuss a proposed county budget. (Marcello Hutchinson-Trujillo — Santa Cruz Local file)

Tuesday, county staff are set to present the proposal ahead of a June 3 budget hearing. 

The cuts would eliminate all funding for the Mental Health Client Action Network of Santa Cruz, about $590,000. MHCAN is a peer-run organization for people with mental illness that offers food, showers, and assistance getting health care and jobs at its Santa Cruz location. 

The organization has relied on county funding for more than 20 years, and would be forced to close without it, said MHCAN Executive Director Tyler Starkman. Many members likely won’t seek help elsewhere, Starkman said.  

“They only really feel comfortable here within these walls where they’re able to really be themselves,” he said. A former tech worker, Starkman was once a MHCAN member as an unhoused UC Santa Cruz student.

“This place opened their doors and provided an environment where I could be myself and not have to worry about the police being called, or people judging me, or the stigma of everyday society,” he said.

Other proposed budget cuts in the county’s Health Services Agency include:

• 74 full-time health services positions, most of them vacant. Of those 74 positions, 12 full-time equivalent employees in mental health services and county health clinics could be laid off in June. Most of those positions are in the county’s X-ray and laboratory facilities, which would be outsourced.
• $3 million for some county mental health services for uninsured people, including psychiatric hospitalization.
• About $330,000 for Gemma House, a transitional house for women exiting jail. 
• About $180,000 for the Downtown Outreach Worker team, which offers crisis support to people in downtown Santa Cruz. The county now runs a program for countywide 24-hour mental health crisis response. 
• $135,000 for syringe cleanup by Community Action Board and Downtown Streets Team.

A complete breakdown of the proposed budget is available online. 

State funding changes have left less health care money for the county, according to a county staff report. 

Cal AIM, a Medicare program that has funded mental health services, has changed how counties receive money and now restricts payments for some services. The state’s mental health fund, funded by a 1% tax on millionaires, has brought in less money and diverted some funding to affordable housing. 

Federal cuts to Medicaid could require the county to further limit services.

Separately, Santa Cruz County Health Services Director Mónica Morales said April 25 she plans to step down from the role June 3. A national search is anticipated to find her replacement.

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