(KRON) — Earlier this year, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) awarded $9 million to Safe Passages, a nonprofit initiative that helps children of color who are involved with the justice system, high-risk populations or at risk of homelessness.
Using the funding, DHCS and Safe Passages broke ground Thursday on a community health and prevention center in Oakland that will fill a gap in mental health and substance use disorder treatment for children entering adulthood. The health center is expected to serve more than 4,800 area residents annually, according to DHCS.
In addition to helping at-risk youth, Safe Passages also offers early childhood development programs that provide mother services and parenting education delivered by early childhood mental health professionals.
Safe Passages is also the region’s first child and young people’s wellbeing centre, offering a model of community-born mental health services, meaning that these services are created and run with significant participation from the communities they serve.
DHCS Director Michelle Barth said community-based wellness centers like Safe Passages are the first line of defense against mental health crises. “Safe Passages strives to be a community-based agency by providing innovative prevention and early intervention services to youth and their families. With Safe Passages, we are making the East Bay healthier.”
The effort is part of Governor Newsom’s Master Plan for Children’s Mental Health. The Department of Health said more treatment facilities will be funded and built in 2025 and 2026 with funding from the Master Plan and the recently approved Proposition 1 bond.
