Residents oppose perinatal rehab center plans

The proposed project, called New Tribal Youth Perinatal Residential SUD, would include construction of three buildings, including a 7,400-square-foot facility that would accommodate 16 family units and a child center. Housing for Native Directions staff and private counseling offices are also part of plans. 

“There is no perinatal SUD program exclusively for Native American youth, although this segment of the population shows the highest incidence of youth pregnancy among all races,” the application states. “Many of the pregnant youth also are experiencing substance use disorder, which is harmful to the fetus. When people are in a state of crisis due to lack of basic services and safe housing, they are unable to focus on sobriety.” 

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Social Services in 2022 granted Native Directions and HomeCA more than $4.5 million to fund the project, which would serve San Joaquin Delta area tribal members “with long-term housing and linkages to support services.” 

The project would cost more than $7 million to construct. 

Residents of Rescue are not convinced the proposed project is a fit for the area and have expressed concerns such as traffic, fire safety and lack of adequate county services patients of the proposed facility would need. 

“We are a rural, two-lane road that can barely handle the cars and cyclists we currently have,” Deer Valley Road resident Denise Burke wrote to the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors. “The increase in traffic to this road would greatly impact the residents and the wildlife here. Cars hitting deer and other wildlife here is a daily occurrence and this will greatly impact their environment even more.” 

Other residents expressed similar concerns, stating the narrow winding country road, where the project would sit, would be miles away from medical facilities. 

“The people that would be housed here would require quick medical assistance and a hospital nearby,” said another Deer Valley Road resident, Darel Walker. “This is also a high fire-risk area with the nearest fire station being over 5 miles away. Response times to this area could be up to 15 minutes. To me, it would be a better option to locate the facility nearer to a highway, fire station and hospital."

The Board of Supervisors gave an avenue for residents to comment on the proposed project during its Jan. 30 meeting. Supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter to Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil and Assemblymen Joe Patterson, expressing to the legislators the treatment centers have become an issue of community concern. Community members packed the boardroom to express their concerns in a lengthy public comment portion of the topic that Tuesday. 

“We are looking to you to assist with ensuring that the Department of Health Care Services is doing everything in its power to oversee these projects and address the negative impacts of these planned projects and, preferably, relocate them to a more suitable location,” reads the letter. 

The letter goes on to list a number of those concerns, including “conflicting and confusing information and oversight of the DHCS application process and project development.”

“Emergency services are already strained and underfunded in El Dorado County due to low Medi-Cal reimbursement rates,” the letter continues. “The proposed projects are Medi-Cal dependent and will exacerbate an already fragile system.” 

The letter also states that roads for such commercial activity are inadequate and that there is a lack of water and sewer infrastructure; fire safety concerns are also noted. 

Alvarado-Gil answered the call, sending a letter to the Department of Health Care Services and Social Services regarding residents' concerns related to the substance abuse treatment center. 

“To achieve the desired outcomes of Community Care Expansion Program (CEP) and Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) projects and ensure the proper stewardship of funding resources, it is imperative that DHCS and CDSS implement appropriate measures to guarantee that community impacts are fully understood and mitigated before groundbreaking begins in March 2024,” Alvarado-Gil’s letter states. “Specific to the proposed projects in the Shingle Springs and Rescue communities of El Dorado County, there are a variety of community impact concerns and questions related to the HomeCA/Native Directions Inc.’s developments that are funded by a combined total of nearly $10 million in state CEP and BHCIP funding.”

Native Directions did not respond to Mountain Democrat inquiries as of press time.