Governor Gavin Newsom announced Oct. 30 that the Ritter Center in San Rafael is open. It is the first behavioral health facility built with money from Proposition 1, the 2024 ballot measure California voters approved.
According to the governor’s office, the center has 1,412 outpatient treatment slots and is projected to serve more than 7,000 people a year. It has a community mental health clinic, office-based opioid treatment and outpatient substance use disorder services.
| Project | County | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Signature Healthcare Services, LLC Project | Shasta County | 107 beds |
| Cangress Project | Los Angeles County | 50-bed facility |
| Compatior, Inc. Project | Los Angeles County | 30 residential substance use disorder treatment beds and 120 outpatient treatment slots |
The Ritter Center was paid for through the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, known as BHCIP, which Proposition 1 funds through a bond. The governor’s office said the bond has so far funded 176 projects across 334 facilities. The Department of Health Care Services administers the program.
The governor’s office said that in the two years since voters approved the measure, the state has delivered 6,948 residential treatment beds and 27,868 outpatient slots. It said those figures equal 102% of the bed goal and 104% of the slot goal. It described the Ritter Center as the first Round 1 bond project to begin serving people.
The state expects to open 13 more BHCIP-funded facilities by the end of 2026, the governor’s office said. It said all construction will be complete by 2028 and that hundreds more facilities are on the way.
The governor also announced what his office called new accountability actions. It said more than $146 million in bond funding is being reinvested in three projects in Los Angeles and Shasta counties.
The Signature Healthcare Services project in Shasta County will create 107 beds for psychiatric care, crisis stabilization, social rehabilitation and residential treatment across a 10-county region. The Cangress project in Los Angeles County will build a 50-bed facility in the Skid Row community with peer-led behavioral health support and stabilization services. The Compatior, Inc. project in Los Angeles County will create 30 residential substance use disorder treatment beds and 120 outpatient treatment slots.
The governor’s office said projects go through extensive review before getting a conditional award. They must keep meeting program and funding requirements before the Department of Health Care Services finalizes the money. “We are expanding access to care while ensuring public dollars are used responsibly and effectively,” said department Director Michelle Baass.
Bond BHCIP builds on an earlier round of the program funded through the state budget before Proposition 1. The governor’s office said that since 2021, BHCIP has awarded a total of $6.1 billion for 436 projects across 543 facilities. It said those projects will create 9,570 beds and 44,863 outpatient slots, projected to serve more than 5.4 million people a year.
California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Kim Johnson said the opening shows progress through new facilities and more treatment options for Californians.
The governor’s office also pointed to preliminary estimates showing unsheltered homelessness in California down nearly 13% since 2024, the second straight yearly decline. It said the state has had the largest two-year drop in homelessness in over a decade.
The governor’s office said residents can track how their communities are addressing mental health, homelessness and housing at accountability.ca.gov.
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