Kings County is observing Mental Health Awareness Month with expanded outreach and resource offerings led by Kings County Behavioral Health, which oversees mental health care and substance use disorder programs across the region. The department is hosting resource booths at the Thursday Night Marketplace and displaying mental health awareness banners throughout the community as part of efforts to reduce stigma around mental health care.
Brett Woolman, interim director of Kings County Behavioral Health, emphasized a preventive approach to mental health. “We look at a lot of it as prevention, like you would go to the doctor for regular screening, or you would go to the dentist for a checkup to make sure you don’t have cavities,” Woolman said. The department aims to position mental health and substance use care not solely as treatment for disorders, but as support that enables people to “live the life they want to live and meet their goals.”
Services and Programs
The department primarily serves patients on Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, though some programs—including veteran, family, and LGBT support groups—are open to everyone. For adults experiencing psychiatric distress, Kings View offers outpatient care, while Assertive Community Treatment provides home-based services for higher-level care needs. Substance abuse treatment is available at both outpatient and residential levels, with “our providers are champions for substance use services,” Woolman noted.
Children’s mental health care begins with outpatient services through the Kind Center and extends to intensive case management through the Full Service Partnership program with Aspiranet for those experiencing severe mental illness.
New Funding and Expansion
Proposition One, established in 2024, created the Behavioral Health Services Act, which directs significant funding toward behavioral health care, substance use treatment, and housing. According to the California Budget and Policy Center, this funding now accounts for nearly one-third of all county behavioral health services funding. Counties must allocate 30% toward housing interventions, 35% toward Full Service Partnerships, and 35% toward behavioral health services and supports.
A new mobile crisis team has successfully expanded mental health access to residents previously disconnected from services, including those from the Lemoore Naval Air Station and the Tachi Yokut tribe. Additionally, a new Good Samaritan psychiatric health facility is under development to serve residents experiencing psychiatric emergencies.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://hanfordsentinel.com/its-mental-health-awareness-month-in-kings-county/article_b793e7d8-9f32-4a92-bb5c-ba1aa47b0e3f.html