Today’s post is authored by Don Taylor, the Regional Executive Director for our Bay Area Region. His role is to oversee the operations of services in Santa Clara and Alameda Counties, plus neighboring counties through our foster care and adoptions program.
The changing of the seasons is upon us, the election process has started, and there is much occurring in our Bay Area region!
Recently I was presenting to the Cities Association of Santa Clara County, which consists of representatives from all 15 cities/towns, the County Supervisors and Executive Office, and the various law enforcement jurisdictions. The topic was our behavioral health response to COVID-19, and I was honored to share with this group that every week we are directly impacting thousands of people across the county with work which includes:
- Implementing a new telehealth platform;
- Resolving hundreds of mental health crises in person each month, while we also partner with law enforcement to reimagine crisis response;
- Serving 57 schools and counting, while adjusting how we reach and engage those most at risk;
- Establishing 10 Professional Parent homes, including our second hosted home on the Los Gatos campus; and
- Challenging ourselves to impact race, equity, and justice in the communities we serve, which has been exacerbated during the pandemic.
And these are the outcomes we get…
We are almost 400 staff strong in this region, each doing our part to impact lives, the broader community, and the policies that guide it. We are faced with unprecedented challenges, and there has never been a more important time to have agencies like Uplift Family Services leaning in!
