Costa Mesa partners with O.C. health officials to add 15 shelter beds for behavioral health
Costa Mesa’s bridge shelter annually serves about 200 clients, but since its 2021 opening there haven’t been specific services for those with mental health or substance abuse. But now, with assistance from the county, officials hope to change that.
Taking advantage of a new state law that allows for court-mandated treatment for homeless individuals with severe mental illness, the city plans to partner with the Orange County Health Care Agency to add 15 shelter beds for clients with behavioral health needs.
The county will give Costa Mesa $570,000 — approximately $38,000 per bed — of a $31.6 million allocation from the state Department of Health Care Services for the expansion. Another $148,000 will aid in the provision of service workers to support those designated for treatment through June 30, 2027.
Nate Robbins oversees shelter operations as the city’s neighborhood improvement manager. He told the City Council the partnership would help make the bridge shelter a more comprehensive service provider.
“The city of Costa Mesa does an amazing job of supporting our residents experiencing homelessness. [But] the one real gap that we have in our system is behavioral healthcare,” Robbins said during an Aug. 1 council meeting.
Citing long wait lists for Costa Mesa’s Bridge Shelter, the City Council Tuesday approved increasing beds and enhancing an agreement with Newport Beach, which uses a portion of the space.
“This [partnership] avails us of a lot of services we don’t currently have, which would elevate our shelter to the next level.”
Council members asked about the shelter’s average length of stay (about 160 days) and whether priority might be given to Costa Mesa residents requiring mental health or substance abuse services.
Robbins indicated while those referred by the county would get a first crack at the new beds, the program would take time to get up and running, allowing the city to benefit from the additional capacity and services in the interim.
“This program is allowing us to serve those people who are already in the shelter, who are already fully integrated addicts and having mental episodes in the shelter [but] who aren’t receiving services,” he added.
Staff estimate the new intake process, which could begin as soon as February, would continue to be funded until fiscal year 2027-28. He said county health officials have expressed in verbal communication their desire to continue funding the program after the initial commitment sunsets.
Should the county elect to withdraw from the program at that time, Costa Mesa would have the option to continue on with its own funding or to potentially end the program and transition the beds to regular use.
Robbins said the need for behavioral health services is great, given that among Orange County’s nearly 5,000 homeless individuals, about 33% have substance abuse issues, while 30% have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder.
Mayor John Stephens agreed.
“It’s very important to fill this gap,” Stephens said, mentioning a police ride-along he attended. “I cannot tell you how much we need this service on the streets and how wide this gap is.”
The expansion approved unanimously by the City Council during the Aug. 1 meeting brings the shelter’s capacity to 100 regular beds and three emergency overnight beds. The city in June approved the addition of 16 regular beds.
Of the 100 spots, 25 are allotted for use by the city of Newport Beach under a memo of understanding under which Newport pays $1.275 million annually.
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