Quick Take
As the Mental Health Client Action Network works to get back on its feet, homeless services provider People First of Santa Cruz County could operate some of its programs. But MHCAN members worry outside management will fundamentally change its peer-based service model.
With the Mental Health Client Action Network (MHCAN) still in limbo following an abrupt closure, homeless services provider People First of Santa Cruz County has submitted a proposal to the county to operate some of MHCAN’s programs while the peer-run organization gets back on its feet.
Some MHCAN members worry that putting an outside organization in charge goes against MHCAN’s mission and philosophy, especially its commitment to peer-run programming for people with mental illness.
MHCAN closed its doors last September amid financial issues and leadership struggles, even though county lawmakers voted last June to continue funding the organization. Members have been hoping the service center can reopen ever since.
Evan Morrison, executive director of People First of Santa Cruz County, which also runs the shelter at the National Guard Armory in DeLaveaga Park and the extreme weather shelters, said his organization is proposing to temporarily run some of MHCAN’s services through the 2026-27 fiscal year. Those programs would include peer groups for people with mental illness, computer education, public speaking, transportation, vocational training and check distribution, as well as connecting people with other mental health services.
Tyler Starkman, MHCAN’s former executive director, said having an outside organization provide these services would go against MHCAN’s peer-run model, which provides a level of safety for clients and a sense of community that’s hard to come by elsewhere.
“It’s backwards for our organizations and it would destroy the model we were founded on,” said Starkman. As someone who has been placed on an involuntary psychiatric hold, he said having support from peers who’ve experienced mental illness is key.
“People don’t feel that they’re stigmatized when they come in those doors,” he said. “They don’t have to worry about being judged and they can just be themselves. It’s really hard for certain people, especially those with psychosis, to trust someone who has never had it before.”
Starkman said peer-run models help clients feel less isolated. A network of peers “provides hope that you couldn’t find any other way,” he said.
Former MHCAN member Dawn Hightree said MHCAN will lose what makes it unique under different leadership.
“This is scary to me and others. This is not going to keep MHCAN the amazing place that it is or welcoming to the people it serves,” she wrote in an email.
Morrison, on the other hand, said while People First works primarily in homeless services rather than mental health, the organization is nearly peer-run itself when working with unhoused individuals, as plenty of its staff members have lived experience with homelessness.
“I get that concern, but the majority of us are peers,” he said. “It’s not like we have people who have no idea what this is.”
Morrison said that if the organization is approved to run select programs, he would prioritize filling roles with people who have experienced mental illness and explore ways to mirror MHCAN’s style of service.
“There’s a lot for us to look at, like resources around clubhouse models similar to MHCAN and what kinds of training is involved in that,” he said. “We haven’t tackled that yet, but we’d certainly be open to it.”
Starkman said MHCAN members have consistently voted against other organizations running its programs, and this would be no different.
“Personally, I would not feel welcome there. It would go against the entire mission statement for the organization,” he said.
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