Long Beach is seeking to establish an opioid treatment facility in West Long Beach and to add 16 new mental health beds at a shelter near Drake Park for those suffering from a mental health crisis.
The funds to pay for the construction and services would potentially come from Proposition 1, a state bond passed in March that is expected to generate up to $4.4 billion to expand behavioral health capacity.
“For Long Beach, this funding presents a significant opportunity to strengthen local mental and behavioral health infrastructure, especially for vulnerable populations like individuals experiencing homelessness and those struggling with substance use and mental health disorders,” Deputy City Manager Teresa Chandler said in a recent memo .
The drug treatment center would include case management and the use of “harm reduction” strategies, including use of Narcan, which reverses an overdose from opioids.
Long Beach has seen a sharp rise in overdose deaths from methamphetamine and fentanyl. Officials said 294 people died of an overdose between 2018 and 2022, and more than three-quarters of those deaths were caused by fentanyl, a powerful and sometimes lethal synthetic drug used for pain relief.