Los Angeles, California – Governor Gavin Newsom and his wife, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, met with California veterans and visited a new site for supportive housing at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs campus on Friday.
The investments made by the administration in housing and mental health care for Veterans are being emphasized by the governor.
Investing in the VA has helped many soldiers move into stable, permanent housing with services and care that are easy to get and don’t cost a lot. Newsom and his wife met Anthony Wimberly, a soldier, in a new apartment on the campus of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Newsom’s office put out this list of “Key Behavioral Health Programs for California Veterans:”
California Veterans Health Initiative (CVHI): $50 million in funding will be used to coordinate state, local, and community resources to boost education and outreach efforts and improve capacity so that all of our veterans in need can be helped.
Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program (VHHP): Projects are required to offer supportive services on-site, such as intense case management, mental and physical health care, counseling and advocacy for benefits, education and employment services, training in life skills, and peer support. This requires an extra $100 million investment.
Veterans Support to Self-Reliance Pilot Program: $25 million to give California’s most vulnerable veterans the chance to stay in their homes as they age by setting up a base level of services that will help them live in safe, independent housing.
Behavioral Health Services Program: County Veterans Service Offices (CVSOs) will get $1.27 million in ongoing funds to help them improve and expand mental health services through projects that work with the community-based system of care they already have.
California Transition Assistance Program (CALTAP): Offers training in person and online to service members, soldiers, and their families throughout the state.
Behavioral Health at the Veterans Homes of California: More clinical social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists have been hired at the eight Veterans Homes of California to make sure that the mental health staffing meets the needs of present and future residents.