On Wednesday March 11th, Governor Newsom announced round two of Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) awards, totaling $1.2 billion to fund an additional 66 projects across 130 behavioral health facilities. The Governor specifically touted investments in rural and tribal communities in his announcement. The RCRC member counties of Del Norte, Napa, Santa Barbara, Siskiyou, Solano, Trinity, and Tuolumne were among those receiving grant awards, as well as non-profit and tribal entities located in Butte, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Mendocino, Monterey, Shasta, Solano, Sutter, and Yuba Counties. The full list of awards can be found HERE.
Upon completion of round 2 projects, the Governor believes that his behavioral health initiatives will have delivered a combined 6,919 residential treatment beds and 27,561 outpatient slots, modestly outpacing the benchmarks set by voter approved Proposition 1 in 2024. The Governor also shared that he believes the burden of implementation has shifted to counties now that the state has provided funds, and that coincides with his announcement that accountability.ca.gov has been updated with information on CARE Act implementation by county, including county designations as “champions” or as underperformers from whom he could attempt to claw back funding.
In addition, accountability.ca.gov shows the percentage that unsheltered homelessness changed by county last year. The Governor touted the first statewide drop in 15 years, decreasing by 9 percent in 2025.
For more information, contact RCRC Senior Policy Advocate Sarah Dukett.