Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/orange-county-health-care-agency/)
Homeless people staying at a motel, which the county is leasing as a mental health treatment facility, expressed confusion and uncertainty about what would happen next.
The proposed mental health center is seen by advocates and officials as a major step toward addressing a severe shortage of mental health service options in Orange County. There was no word Tuesday on when services will start at the property.
County officials and lawyers for homeless people said they planned to work over the three-day holiday weekend to help ensure any homeless people who want motel rooms before the Tuesday deadline can quickly move into them.
In response to a dramatic upswing in sexually transmitted diseases, schools and community groups serving low-income students are responding with no-nonsense educational approaches that factor in cultural beliefs and practices.
The recommendations are aimed at diverting mentally ill people from jails into treatment, which county officials say would improve public safety by reducing crime, while also saving taxpayer dollars.
The proposed center – next to a freeway, office buildings, and the Santa Ana River – is seen by advocates and officials as a major step toward addressing a severe shortage of mental health services.
The public was not notified of a recent outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease in Anaheim until reporters asked about it, because there was no ongoing public health threat, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA).
Disneyland has shut down two cooling towers at its theme park after a dozen cases, including one death, from Legionnaire’s disease – a serious respiratory illness caused by the Legionella bacteria – were reported in Anaheim.
While Los Angeles and San Diego counties have declared outbreaks of hepatitis A, local health officials say an outbreak has not come to Orange County, although they are “very concerned.”
Orange County Supervisors keep wasting precious time with an anemic response to the homelessness explosion along the Santa Ana riverbed and downtown civic center. With Hep A outbreaks prompting action in both LA and San Diego Counties, how much longer will it take county supervisors to step up and protect public safety in Orange County?