Through the Behavioral Health Bridge Housing (BHBH) Program, the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) will provide $1.5 billion in funding to operate bridge housing settings to address the immediate and sustainable housing needs of people experiencing homelessness who have serious behavioral health conditions, including a serious mental illness (SMI) and/or substance use disorder (SUD). The program, which was signed into law in September 2022 under Assembly Bill (AB) 179 (Ting, Chapter 249, Statutes of 2022), provides funding through June 30, 2027. A total of $907,936,000 is available, exclusively to county Behavioral Health Agencies, in this round of funding. The grant guidelines, request for application and grant template are now available online at: https://bridgehousing.buildingcalhhs.com/county-behavioral-health-agencies/. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. PT on April 28, 2023
The program includes a maximum county funding allocation that each county is eligible to apply for. The formula used to calculate these figures is based on a $1,000,000 minimum base per county, the current Behavioral Health Subaccount (50 percent), and Point-in-Time (50 percent) funding methodologies. For county specific funding amounts, please see attachment A in the request for application.