Health Alliance (HA) Overview

The CalWORKs Community HA is a partnership between Santa Clara County Social Services Agency and the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital Systems’ DADS, Department of Mental Health. The purpose of this partnership is to provide comprehensive behavioral health services for CalWORKs clients and their family members.

Substance abuse and MH services are now considered core activities and are part of Job Readiness Assistance, for federal WPR purposes. Refer to Job Readiness General Overview for participation time limits and additional information.

The HA uses a behavioral health model that focuses on the health of the whole person by providing individualized counseling and other services to enhance and support self-sufficiency. These holistic services address:

• On-site short-term solution-based therapy/counseling for clients who drop-in or call-in for short-term issues,
• Long-term off-site therapy/counseling for clients who require services longer than 3–4 visits,
• Emotional well-being,
• Behavioral issues,
• Substance abuse issues,
• Relationship issues,
• MH issues,
• Stress management,
• Trauma and abuse,
• Psychosocial functioning.

These issues can have a serious impact on a client’s ability to gain and/or maintain employment. The goal of the HA is to provide services that will support the client to return to work.