Government: State of County speech theme is ‘building together’

Ellenberg asks for collaboration with cities, state, nonprofits and businesses

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By Marty Cheek

“Building Together” served as the theme of the 2023 State of the County address presented by Santa Clara Board of Supervisors President Susan Ellenberg.

Recognizing the need for the county government to work with local communities, the state, nonprofits and businesses, she emphasized collaboration in the speech given Jan. 31 to an overflow crowd in the council chambers at the county’s headquarters.

“Cities need the county. The county needs the cities,” Ellenberg said. “And that same symbiotic need applies to community organizations, our labor partners, school districts and special districts, neighborhood associations, small   and large businesses and residents – we need each other. We all play a crucial role in solving the immense challenges before us.”

The address also detailed progress the county has made in the creation of affordable housing, addressing the root causes of homelessness, building out behavioral and mental health workforce and infrastructure and adding transparency to government.

Among the proposed changes is to make childcare in the region more affordable and accessible.

When affordable, high-quality childcare is unavailable, local economies are suppressed, there is less consumer spending, lower professional productivity, and greater poverty, Ellenberg said.

“Childcare is not simply an individual parent’s challenge,” she said. “Early investments in childhood are anti-poverty, pro-employment, and transform the economic, social and communal well-being landscape.”

Ellenberg also described the creation of the county’s first Children’s Budget to invest in programs, services, resources and infrastructure for children and their families. Based on the 2022-23 Adopted Budget, the county will spend $1.09 billion on programs for children, youth, and families in this fiscal year.

Year-over-year spending for the Children’s Budget increased by 3.5 percent in fiscal year 2022-23, the equivalent of more than $40 million in additional funding. This provides for about 411,000 children younger than 18 — or 20 percent of the county’s total population.

Solving the challenges of homelessness is also a priority for the county, Ellenberg said in the speech.

Last year, she and Supervisor Cindy Chavez launched the Heading Home campaign to house families with very young children and pregnant people. In the first year of the campaign, more than 500 families were connected to housing and the time from referral to housing declined from 45 days to 11. As of October 2022, the program has housed 937 children and their families.

Through Emergency Housing Vouchers, Rapid Rehousing, and Homelessness Prevention Strategies, the county will work to meet its goal to achieve “functional zero” by 2025. If this objective is met, the number of housing placements for families will be greater than the number of families becoming homeless.

Heading Home is only a part of an effort to end homelessness in the county, Ellenberg said. The 2020-2025 Community Plan to End Homelessness identifies the potential solutions. These include:

• Addressing the root causes of homelessness through system, infrastructure and policy changes;
• Supporting partners in the work to build out solutions at every part of the continuum from emergency shelters to interim options to permanent housing; and
• Dramatically expanding homelessness prevention efforts.

Building the county’s communities was also a topic in the speech. Ellenberg addressed the resources for children, including making sure young people have access to good nutrition.

“This school year is the first academic year where all children have access to school meals,” she said. “California is the first in the nation to make this commitment to universal school breakfast and lunch as a critical strategy for reducing child hunger, improving learning, and promoting equity and community on campus.”

Ellenberg also discussed mental health services, describing how the county set a goal of adding 500 beds to its behavioral health system of care by 2025.

As of January, 40 beds have been added through contracts and nearly 50 more are expected to open in the next few months, she said. The county secured about $100 million in grants through the state and is also leveraging new resources through Medi-Cal under CalAIM.

“I’d like to see the following as our stretch goal: that anyone ready to start their recovery can access care and begin the process of recovery the day they ask for help,” Ellenberg said. “This would entail expansion of same-day or walk-in clinics for medication assisted treatment services, adding more beds for higher level detox care for our most complex patients, and adding more medical staff certified in addiction medicine to support the complex health and recovery needs of patients across our hospitals and clinics.”

The board president also welcomed newly elected Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, who represents the South Valley region in District 1.

“My newest colleague — I am delighted you have joined the board, and I look forward to years of strong collaboration, particularly around our shared passion for the well-being of children and families,” Ellenberg said at the end of the address.