FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – Vital care services are expanding to more rural communities in the Central Valley.
The County of Fresno is expanding its mental health and care services to the most at-risk people in rural communities like Selma, Orange Cove, and Mendota.
Increasing access to vital services is what the expansion of the Map Point Program will mean for over a thousand people in the Valley,
Leon Hoover (above photo, right) is CEO of the non-profit Kings View, one of the MAPS service partners.
“The Map Point is a ‘single door’ for folks to get an assessment and then linkage, not referral, but linkage to services so we want to be sure they get to services, and they’re actually enrolled and they move forward with their lives.” – Leon Hoover, CEO, Kings View.
Dawan Utecht, the Mental Health Director of Fresno County Behavioral Health Services, says the concept is for someone to be healthy and well in the community it might not be one thing, it might be multiple things.
“To maintain housing they might need their healthcare needs met, and so the navigator then identifies needs and then links people to services, and linkage really is the key term, it’s not ‘here’s a list of places go find them,’ it’s ‘let me get you an appointment, let me assist you with transportation to get you there.'” -Dawan Utecht, Director of Behavioral Heath, Fresno County.
Fresno Housing Authority Executive Director Preston Prince says this program extension will mean more success, citing that in the last two years, Map Point helped find housing for 120 individuals.
One of two Poverello House vans was parked next the church during the ribbon cutting on Thursday, both will be used to drive into communities and bring food to people, and navigators will link people to the services they need.
Utecht says they will be measuring the success of the expansion in the days to come.
“It’s one thing to link people to services but are they actually doing better because they got linked to services, and so really that data collection and analysis will be part of what we do to see if we are successful at our goals. -Dawan Utecht, Mental Health Director of Fresno County Behavioral Health Services.
Key leaders say “Right place, right care, first time, stop the shuffle, stop the referrals.”
Click to listen to the interview with Dawan Utecht, Mental Health Director of Fresno County Behavioral Health Services in a report by KMJ’s Liz Kern
