Orange County to Welcome New Mental Health Director

San Bernardino County Department of Behavioral Health Director Veronica Kelley is headed to the OC. She will take over as Orange County’s behavioral health director on Friday, Dec. 17.

Kelley’s appointment comes at a challenging time for the OC Health Care Agency. It has faced criticism over a lack of transparency and gaps in services. Mental health advocates say the agency must be more open about how it spends its hundreds of millions in funds. They say the agency also needs to listen more to the community.

Kelley told Voice of OC she agrees.

“Being able to break [spending] down, so that people can be able to understand it … I think that’s really important,” she said.

“And at the end of the day, I hope to be able to do that. I hope that transparency and collaboration will be a key thing that people think of when they think about behavioral health service.”

Read more about Veronica Kelley and her priorities for OC mental health services here.