The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved the creation of a three-year pilot program to expand local mental health services for foster youth.  

The Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Program at the Valley of the Moon Children’s Center is intended to shorten the wait times for treatment, but more importantly will allow these youth to remain in the county instead of going to intensive residential treatment programs in other counties. This in turn facilitates keeping connections with friends, family and the community.  

These short-term programs are designed for children who have experienced trauma and may be having difficulty living within a family or an independent living environment. The county said the goal of these programs is to transition the youths back into such settings.  

County officials last Tuesday said Sonoma County is only the second county in the state to get state licensing to operate its own short-term program, which will be overseen by the Human Services Department.  

The county anticipates the pilot program costing around $27 million over three years, with most costs covered by state and federal funds. Nearly $10 million will come from county money for health and human services and funds from Measure O, a quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2020 to pay for mental health and homelessness services.  

The Sonoma County program will have room for 16 youths at a time, with four short-term beds for assessment and 12 beds for intensive treatment lasting anywhere from three to 12 months.  

Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.