Beds, Program to Aid Homeless Mentally Ill OKd

San Diego County supervisors Tuesday approved six recommendations for spending more than $1 million in state funds intended for the mentally ill homeless in San Diego.

The money, allocated by the state in January for the 1985 fiscal year, was not spent by July and so was carried over into the current spending year.

The supervisors approved proposals by the county’s Division of Mental Health to spend the money on short-term or one-time only projects because the same funds will not be available in future years.

The board approved the following proposals:

- $677,440 for beds for the mentally ill homeless in existing shelters and board and care homes. The money will fund 58 beds for two years.

- $320,000 to buy a building to house a program to help the homeless mentally ill become stable and work their way into the mainstream of society.

- $90,000 to establish a revolving trust fund for the homeless mentally ill awaiting receipt of federal Social Security payments. Funds awarded through this program will be repaid once the clients receive their federal payments.

- $11,500 to increase the amount of a contract with Episcopal Community Services. The money will fund a position through June to recruit and train more volunteers to work individually with the homeless.

- $45,000 to increase the amount of a contract with Neighborhood House Assn. through June. The money will be used to remodel the program’s building, enabling the association to provide better services.

- Up to $100,000 to help establish a day center for the homeless in downtown San Diego. The county’s money would be contingent upon identical contributions from the City of San Diego and the business community.

In a related action, the supervisors approved a $442,000 proposal to fund mental health programs for victims and offenders of child sexual abuse and for mentally ill senior citizens without families.