REDONDO BEACH, Calif. – (May 20, 2023) Beach Cities Health District (BCHD) has been awarded $6.3 million in grant funding from the California Department of Health Care Services’ (DHCS) Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP). This statewide program supports behavioral health infrastructure projects, providing new opportunities to address gaps in mental health services.
This grant is specifically for new construction of allcove Beach Cities, a youth wellness center in Redondo Beach, serving young people ages 12-25 in the county’s Service Planning Area (SPA) 8, and comes through the BHCIP Round 4: Children and Youth grants.
In December, Governor Gavin Newsom announced $480.5 million in awards for 54 projects to improve California’s behavioral health infrastructure for children and youth, with Los Angeles County set to receive $122.4 million for 13 county projects, including allcove Beach Cities.
“This funding from the state will be the first opportunity to build a ground-up allcove center to meet the needs of young people, in a space designed specifically for them,” said Steven Adelsheim, M.D., Director, Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, who is leading the effort to open allcove centers across the state.
“All of us at BCHD are extremely grateful to the Department of Health Care Services for their commitment to deliver much-needed mental health services for young people,” said Tom Bakaly, Chief Executive Officer for BCHD. “Since we opened the doors to allcove Beach Cities in a temporary location, it’s already made a positive impact in our community with more than 1,000 young people utilizing the center and its various services.“
This grant brings the total amount of state and federal monies raised for allcove Beach Cities to $9.3 million.
In 2020, BCHD was awarded $2 million through California’s Mental Health Services Oversight & Accountability Commission to open an allcove center, joining an innovative network of integrated youth mental health centers across California. In March 2022, Congress appropriated $1 million for allcove Beach Cities as part of the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package, thanks in large part to the efforts of Congressman Ted Lieu (CA-36th District).
allcove Beach Cities opened Nov. 1, 2022, in a temporary location on the Beach Cities Health District Campus in Redondo Beach, offering mental and physical health services, education and employment assistance, peer and family support, and substance use prevention programs for young people ages 12-25 in the greater South Bay. The centerpiece of the allcove center is “the cove,” a common area where young people can hang out with friends, participate in wellness activities, arts and crafts, games, movie nights, open mic nights, meditation and more.
The new, permanent location for allcove Beach Cities is at the southwest corner of Beryl Street and Flagler Lane and is part BCHD’s Healthy Living Campus master plan. The 9,400 square foot, two-story allcove center will be the first building constructed as part of the Campus revitalization, with vehicle access to the energy-efficient center available exclusively via Beryl Street, a change made in response to neighbors’ concerns about traffic in the adjacent Torrance neighborhood.
This grant is part of the $2.2 billion BHCIP funding provided by the Legislature and the Governor, which was authorized in the fiscal year 2021-22 budget to construct, acquire and expand behavioral health facilities and community-based care options as well as invest in mobile crisis infrastructure. BHCIP is part of a broader commitment by the California Health & Human Services Agency (CalHHS) to improve the state’s behavioral health and long-term care continuum infrastructure.
Additional information on BHCIP Round 4: Children and Youth awardees is available at the BHCIP online dashboard.
