San Luis Obispo County residents have until Jan. 21 to review and weigh in on the region’s first integrated plan on the Behavioral Health Services Act, which reformed 20-year-old behavioral health care funding to prioritize services for people with the most pressing mental health needs.
The integrated plan arrived after a lack of guidance from Proposition 1 and how it would affect county funding. Proposition 1 passed in 2024 and changed the way counties can use Mental Health Services Act money, which is funded from a 1 percent tax on millionaires.
Proposition 1 established the Behavioral Health Services Act, which shifts 5 percent of the county’s funding to the state for substance abuse prevention and workforce activities.
“With the passage of Proposition 1 in 2024, a significant amount of state funding will shift from mental health support services to housing and substance-abuse services,” 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson wrote in his Jan. 3 newsletter. “This state mandate forces big changes and requires us to make hard choices in how we provide a full spectrum of care for those who need it.”
Now, counties must report how they’re spending all their behavioral health dollars, not just money specific to the Mental Health Services Act or the Behavioral Health Services Act.
The Behavioral Health Services Act required each county mental health program to prepare and submit a three-year plan. It would be updated annually and approved by the California Department of Mental Health after the Oversight and Accountability Commission reviews and comments on the plan.
SLO County’s 2026-29 integrated plan has an increased focus on funding for housing interventions and alleviating homelessness. The plan outlines more coordination with Medi-Cal, managed care plans, public health, and housing and justice partners.
Proposition 1 is also a package deal.
It comes with a Behavioral Health Bond that authorizes $6.4 billion in bonds to pay for treatment beds, supportive housing, community sites, and funding for housing veterans with behavioral health needs.
In 2025, the state conditionally awarded SLO County almost $22 million to acquire and renovate property for a 16-bed psychiatric health facility, an eight-bed adult crisis residential treatment program, and children and youth crisis residential treatment program with two beds.
“Currently, both youth and adults from San Luis Obispo County are sent out of county each year for behavioral health treatment due to the lack of local facilities and crisis inpatient treatment,” the county Board of Supervisors’ Dec. 16 staff report said.
The Board of Supervisors will deliberate accepting the $22 million grant at a later date.
Community members can review the 133-page draft integrated plan at slocounty.gov/IP. A public hearing on the integrated plan is scheduled for Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. at 1255 Kendall Road in SLO.
The draft plan is due to the state in March, before the funding shift takes place on July 1. ∆
This article appears in Volunteers 2026.