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<br />Alameda Countywide Homeless and Special Needs Housing Plan
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<br />In 2002, the most recent year for which complete data is available, Alameda County Behavioral
<br />Care Services (BHCS) served 18,024 adults over the course of the year. Berkeley Mental Health
<br />(BMH) operates a separate mental health system. However, the majority ofBMH clients are also in
<br />the County mental health system because certain types of mental health care, particularly
<br />hospitalization, are available only through the County system. For that reason, Berkeley Mental
<br />Health estimates that BHCS data includes about two-thirds of their c1ients.5l
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<br />Consumers with the most acute service needs are assigned by BHCS to Service Teams for care. In
<br />general, adult residents of Alameda County who have a serious and persistent mental illness which
<br />causes substantial impairment in their community functioning, and who have no other appropriate
<br />source of mental health treatment available to them, will be accepted as meeting criteria for Service
<br />Team assignment. In July 2004, there were 4,074 adults on Service Teams.
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<br />BHCS collects data on the housing status of clients. However, because data is collected at the first
<br />contact of the year, and for many people this contact occurs at a time of crisis, data is not
<br />consistently available for all clients. For example, housing status data was not available for 31
<br />percent of clients in 2002. Still, it is clear that homelessness and housing stability are issues for
<br />many. In 2002, more than 1,000 BHCS clients were reported as homeless during the course of the
<br />year, equivalent to 6 percent of all clients for the year and including 6 percent of service team
<br />clients. Nearly 1 in 5 clients served in 2002 entered services while in jail, or more than 3,000
<br />people.52
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<br />In its initial AB 2034 grant proposal, Berkeley Mental Health estimated that roughly 450 of the
<br />City's adult and transition age youth homeless populations were seriously mentally ill and eligible
<br />for AB 2034 services. This number is consistent with the findings of the Alameda Countywide
<br />Shelter and Services Survey, which noted a disproportionately high number of single adults with
<br />mental disabilities in Berkeley's homeless population. Berkeley's AB 2034 program contracts with
<br />the State Department of Mental Health to serve 95 individuals and 107 are currently enrolled, thus
<br />demonstrating a significant gap in the availability of this type of service to those in need in Berkeley
<br />and across Alameda County. Berkeley's non-AB 2034 teams serve an estimated additional 150
<br />homeless adults.
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<br />The needs of transition-age youth, including youth emancipating from foster care, are increasingly a
<br />concern in Alameda County. Approximately 220 youth emancipate from foster care in Alameda
<br />County every year, and two-thirds need housing assistance. 53 An analysis of California Department
<br />of Social Services data found that statewide 63 percent of foster youth received publicly funded
<br />mental health services prior to emancipation.54
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<br />A particular challenge for Alameda County's Social Services Agency is people receiving General
<br />Assistance who have behavioral issues but who may not qualify for mental health services.
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<br />51 Berkeley Mental Health, e-mail communication with AIDS Housing of Washington staff, June 6, 200S.
<br />52 Alameda County Behavioral Health Carc Services handout, "BHCS Data on Homeless Populations in SMI and General BHCS
<br />Populations," August 25, 2004.
<br />13 Amanda Richards, Housing, Services, and Support: A Comprehensive Housing Continuum for Youth Aging Out of Foster Care in
<br />Alameda County, May 2004, p. 8.
<br />54 Barbara Needell, Stephanie Cuccaro-Alamin, Alan Brookhart, William Jackman, and Aron Shlonsky, Youth Emancipatingfrom
<br />Foster Care in California: Findings Using Linked Administrative Data, Center for Social Services Research, University of California
<br />at Berkcley, May 2002, pp. 27-29.
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