After years of limited access to in- county psychiatric care for youth, Santa Clara County is preparing to open the new Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Facility. The facility, part of the Behavioral Health Services Center, is set to open in spring 2026 on the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center campus in San Jose, and will provide both inpatient and outpatient care.

The project aims to address longstanding gaps in youth mental health care, as demand for psychiatric beds continues to outpace availability. According to Palo Alto Online, Stanford Health professionals are stressing the need for expanded local mental health treatment options.

The effort traces back to 2010, when Palo Alto resident Sigrid Pinsky learned during a county advisory board meeting that children in psychiatric crises were routinely being sent outside the county for treatment. Due to a severe shortage of psychiatric beds, patients were transported to facilities in Marin County, Bakersfield and across the East Bay.

According to SCVMC Interim Hospital Executive Dr. Brian McBeth, the lack of local psychiatric help often forced families to travel during medical emergencies, disrupting continuity of care.

“The relocation from the area added to the stress for parents already dealing with work requirements and their children’s well-being,” he said. “Our community deserves a care location close to home where family and friends can be nearby.”

In response, Pinsky and then-Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian began pushing for structural change, initiating what would become more than 15 years of advocacy. The center was later approved by the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors in 2017 when 689 Santa Clara County youths were left out of access to specialized mental health care. Due to delays, county supervisors formally reapproved the project in May 2021, adopting updated environmental findings and finalizing the facility’s design.

“The inspiration behind the facility is to allow teens and children to receive the care they require close to home,” McBeth said. “ It is an acknowledgement that mental health is as important to our community as physical health.”

Construction began in February 2023 after multiple delays caused by labor shortages, material costs and pandemic- related disruptions, according to the County of Santa Clara. Originally estimated at $222 million, the project’s cost increased to approximately $422 million.

Once completed, the BHSC will consolidate mental health services currently spread across three buildings into a single three-story facility at 751 South Bascom Ave. Of its 77 inpatient beds, several will be dedicated for children and adolescents.

Proximity plays a critical role in whether families seek care, according to Alum Rock Counseling Center CEO David Mineta. When a suitable acute facility — a specialized hospital for short-term intensive care — is hours away or out of state, families are more likely to delay treatment. Having a facility nearby where loved ones can stay informed and visit may help both a patient and those in their support circle.

“(Fear about confidentiality) is usually why people don’t raise their hand early and say, ‘Hey, I need some help,’ and they wait all the way till they get really serious and really feel bad,” he said. “Depending on people’s ethnicities, backgrounds and where they’re from, in certain cultures there are no words for mental health conditions.”

The facility’s location and emphasis on privacy may encourage early intervention, which can help address childhood traumas or monitor psychological signs before they evolve into complex disorders in adulthood. Stigma remains a barrier even when mental health resources are available, according to Reach Out, Care and Know Club co-president junior Alina Fleischmann.

“In this college-focused environment, people understand that mental health and the amount of resources are important, but the second that something is considered not school work, students consider it to be unproductive,” she said.

Internalized stress can also prevent those in need of seeking help.

“I think it’s awesome that the county is trying to be more aware and is creating new resources,” Fleischmann said. “But at Gunn, (I think) there is this normalization of stress, so people think they are not struggling enough to receive help.”

For McBeth, providing youth with a place to decompress and directly access those resources is essential, particularly given the many pressures they face.

“Being a teen can be difficult enough, given the stress of academic work, family and social pressures,” he said. “Many teens deal with anxiety, depression and more complex mental health challenges, and the BHP will be a center where those in need can receive specialized mental health care by experts in their fields.”