Council approves service expansions to better address community behavioral health needs
March 13, 2025 7:27 AM
by Heather Averick
In 2022, as part of the city’s strategic priority of Addressing Homelessness, and in response to a growing need for behavioral health services, the City Council directed staff to develop a behavioral health strategy for the city.
Behavioral health refers to the connection between our behavior, mental wellbeing, and physical health and can include mental health conditions, substance use disorders, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and life stressors.
Staff contracted with Initium Health to conduct a community engagement process to assess the city’s behavioral health needs. Based on community feedback and local data, Initium identified adult crisis care and children and youth behavioral services as the most pressing behavioral health needs in Santa Monica.
Following the engagement process, the city worked with Capstone Solutions Consulting Group to conduct additional regional assessments and presented the reports and recommendations to the City Council at its Feb. 25 meeting. Below is a summary of the findings and recommendations.
Adult crisis care
The Capstone assessment looked at gaps in adult intensive behavioral health services in Santa Monica and across Service Planning Area 5, or SPA 5, a geographic region including Santa Monica, Malibu, Culver City, Beverly Hills, Marina del Rey, Venice and West L.A. Because many of the city’s crisis services are provided by the county, the assessment was based in a regional context.
The assessment found that mental health and, in particular, substance use services in Santa Monica and across SPA 5 have not kept up with increasing need, resulting in untreated behavioral health challenges.
In addition, these services are hard for individuals to navigate. There is array of service providers, both private and public, nonprofit and for-profit, and individuals are often required to move between multiple providers and systems to access the services they need. There is no “one-stop shop” for those experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
Finally, the assessment found that services are consistently at capacity and not taking on new clients and because of these limitations, many clients fail to receive the services needed.
Based on these findings, Capstone’s assessment identified three possible approaches for expanding intensive behavioral health services in Santa Monica.
Approach 3: Decentralized Expansion
Staff recommended, and the City Council approved, Approach 3: “Decentralized Expansion.”
This model does not rely on a single campus, as was proposed in alternative approaches and is the highest cost model. This model instead builds out new services and expands existing services as opportunities become available.
Given the limitations of real estate on the westside, budget constraints, and the behavioral healthcare workforce shortage, Santa Monica will continue to add these services incrementally.
The city has already implemented some behavioral health services, such as the Therapeutic Transport Team and the upcoming SaMo Bridge Program. Next steps to continue building out these services include:
- In partnership with Exodus Recovery, Inc., secure dedicated beds for Santa Monica at the Westside Urgent Care Center.
- Work closely with the Westside Cities Council of Governments on an implementation strategy for a regional behavioral health facility.
- Advocate for crisis stabilization services and substance use disorder treatment at the Los Angeles County Safe Landing site being developed at the West LA Armory.
- Monitor and apply for behavioral health-related grants, such as the California Department of Health Care Services’ Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program.
Children and youth behavioral care
The city consulted with local service providers to build off Initium’s work to determine the gaps in youth behavioral care. Youth and their families’ behavioral health needs may differ from those of the adult population, so it’s important to examine each separately.
Based on the needs identified by local providers, and the funding currently available, city staff recommended – and the City Council approved – the following expansion of services to support the behavioral health needs of Santa Monica’s youth:
- Add mental health specialist services to city-run after-school programs: Police Activities League (PAL); CREST; and Virginia Avenue Park (VAP).
- Fund specialized staff at city grantee Family Service of Santa Monica to provide affordable, accessible youth substance use treatment services, which currently do not exist in Santa Monica.
- Increase staffing for the Early Childhood Wellbeing Project, or ECWP, run by Family Service of Santa Monica, to expand caseload capacity from 30 to 100 children. ECWP supports local families with housing retention, behavioral health support, crisis management and mitigation, immigration concerns, legal issues and childcare needs.
- Increase staffing for city grantee St. Joseph Center’s Youth Resource Team, or YRT, to expand intensive case management capacity from 100 to 150 youths. The YRT works with at-risk youth to help with basic needs, housing, mental health and educational/vocational services.
City staff will continue to assess community need and build out behavioral health programs and capacities as funding allows.
Read the full staff report here.
Authored By
Heather Averick
Director of Housing and Human Services