Funding Shifts For Mental Health Spending

By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER Senior Staff Writer Madalynn Rucker and her team at ONTRACK Program Resources are spearheading mental health support for the community and culturally competent training for those who provide services to Blacks in need of those services. Russell Stiger, Jr., OBSERVER As the coronavirus ravaged the community in 2020, Black leaders began to speak of having to battle a double pandemic – one that was killing people sight unseen and another that was very much in their faces: police violence rooted in racism and unequal treatment. Supporting a declaration from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors declared racism a public health crisis in 2021, promising to address generational inequalities. Three years later, local stakeholders say that vow has meant more focus – and funding – for mental health services and awareness efforts. “I’ve been doing this work for 30-40 years now and I’ve been around long enough to see the ebb and flow,” says Paul Moore, the program services manager for ONTRACK Program Resources. ​​ONTRACK, led by grassroots organizer Madalynn Rucker, has a contract with Sacramento County and is a major provider of mental health services to the...