San Luis Obispo County leaders say Martha’s Place, an early-childhood assessment center that was at risk of closing due to a $9 million county budget shortfall, is moving toward long-term stability.
SLO County Behavioral Health Director Dr. Star Graeber told supervisors Tuesday that the clinic, which serves infants and children up to age five with developmental and behavioral-health needs, remains in operation but with changes aimed at keeping it sustainable.
“We will be proposing elimination of two FTE positions in the coming budget cycle because we are making some other operational changes here,” Graeber said.
The county has spent the last six months restructuring Martha’s Place, shifting some services to other providers, and seeking to bring in more grants and private support. The clinic is expected to need roughly 200 patient assessments a year to break even.
County staff plan to return to the board in March with updated numbers, which will help guide funding decisions through the next budget cycle and beyond.
Martha’s Place had been slated for cuts earlier this year as the county reviewed programs to address the budget shortfall, prompting concerns from families, community partners, and nonprofits about the loss of early-childhood development services.
