The County Board of Supervisors has directed the Chief Administrative Officer to seek partnerships and explore funding strategies to bolster mental health care and substance abuse treatment for locals in need. Responding to the Board's decision, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria underscored the situation's urgency. "These initial actions are a step in the right direction toward addressing our region's severe behavioral health crisis," Gloria stated, as per the City of San Diego.
Mayor Gloria didn't hold back on the gravity of what's at stake. "Every day, people suffering from extreme mental illness and substance use disorders are left to struggle in our public spaces without the access to care they desperately need," he said, adding pressure on the Board and County staff to decisively move forward, as cited by the City of San Diego. Gloria's appeal is blunt: San Diegans cannot afford to wait any longer for sick individuals to receive the care that is so critically needed. His call for rapid expansion of behavioral health services comes from a leader actively pushing for systemic change since his term began.
The County of San Diego is the regional health and human services agency, and it is responsible for providing countywide behavioral health services. Throughout his tenure, Gloria has positioned himself as a proactive force for mental health advancement at various levels of government. He appealed to his 2022 State of the City address to support creating a CARE Court. This system provides an additional avenue for those battling with mental health issues to access necessary care. The successful passage of Senate Bill 1338 established the CARE Court system in San Diego County.
Building on this momentum, Gloria continued to lobby for change in 2023, specifically targeting conservatorship laws so that more severely mentally ill Californians could have access to life-saving care. By leveraging his advocacy, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 43. Despite this legislative win, San Diego County supervisors chose to delay implementing this law until January 2025, a year after Mayor Gloria urged its implementation. This postponement signals a slow-paced approach to reforms, contrasting with Gloria's action-driven stance.
