San Diego County is delivering on its promise to build a behavioral health system that meets the region’s biggest challenges — untreated addiction, mental illness, and homelessness. 

In March, Chair Terra Lawson-Remer called a Special Session of the Board to adopt a plan to nearly double treatment slots by 2030. New data presented to the Board today shows the County is already making rapid progress: nearly 2,000 new residential slots secured since last fiscal year, outpatient care accelerating, and thousands more people connected to housing that supports recovery. 

The progress builds on San Diego County’s Care Before Crisis 2030 Plan - a visionary roadmap accelerated under Lawson-Remer’s leadership since 2021, also known as the “Optimal Care Pathways Model.” The County has adopted separate OCPs for mental health and for substance use disorder, each mapping out the full continuum of care our region needs: prevention, crisis stabilization, residential and outpatient treatment, and housing linked to recovery. By adopting these models, San Diego became one of the first counties in the nation to set clear systemwide goals, measure progress, and align state and local dollars around building care before crisis hits.  

“These numbers tell the story: people are getting help today who would have been left with nothing just a few years ago,” said Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer. “We’ve built most of the residential treatment system we need, we’re dramatically expanding outpatient care, and we’re linking thousands of people to housing that makes recovery possible.”

Residential Treatment: Rapid Gains 

- In March, the County reported having secured 4,978 residential slots toward a 2030 goal of 8,851.

- Today, that number is 6,956 — nearly 2,000 more slots, 79% of the way to the goal. 

- With 73 new beds under construction at the County’s SURTS facility and 150 more funded through community partners, San Diego is closing in on the finish line years ahead of schedule.

- Since 2021, residential capacity has more than doubled (3,092 → 6,956). 

Outpatient Care: Scaling Up Fast 

- The 2030 goal calls for 18,400 outpatient slots; San Diego is now at 9,157 — halfway there and growing quickly. 

This year alone, the County: 

- Added 4 new medication-assisted treatment providers, 

- Opened 506 new withdrawal-management slots (tripling capacity), and 

-  Expanded opioid treatment by 100 new slots with the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians. 

- Through Proposition 1 Bond funds, three local providers are now funded to create 2,000+ additional outpatient slots over the next three years — the largest single outpatient expansion to date. 

Housing: Recovery That Lasts 

-  By 2030, the County aims for 5,033 housing slots tied to treatment. 

- Today, we’re at 2,768 — more than halfway there. 

- Already, more than 3,100 people have been connected to recovery residences, and $6 million is planned for 121 new short-term bridge housing beds for people leaving crisis care. 

Building New Layers of Care 

-  25 recuperative care beds opened this summer in Escondido; 8 more open this fall in El Cajon, with 16 more coming in 2026. 

- Planning is underway for San Diego’s first peer crisis respite program, creating a new option to stabilize people before hospitalization is needed. 

Looking Ahead 

The ‘Care-Before-Crisis’ 2030 plan envisions nearly doubling the system by 2030. Since its launch, the plan has already guided major reforms: opening new Crisis Stabilization Units, launching Mobile Crisis Response Teams, and expanding the behavioral health workforce. With today’s update, San Diego is proving that long-term vision can deliver real results year after year. 

“We are proving that San Diego can take on the mental health, addiction, and homelessness crises with real treatment and recovery,” said Lawson-Remer. “We’ve made enormous progress in my first 4 years, kept our foot on the gas the last five months, and we are going to keep building until every San Diegan has access to care.”