Equity

The County extended the Rural Health Discharge Program that it started in 2023 with CAL FIRE, Grossmont Healthcare and Sharp Grossmont Hospital to serve isolated patients in their home after they were discharged from the hospital. The program paired a San Diego County Fire/CAL FIRE Paramedic Captain with a County public health nurse to provide follow up care for patients at home when they’re discharged. The goal is to keep people healthy and prevent them from having to be re-admitted to the hospital.  Due to the success of the program, Sharp Grossmont Hospital now employs its own nurse who partners with the paramedic to make home visits.

Also in December 2024, 10 local, small nonprofit organizations, including five in District 4, became the second batch to win $100,000 County Equity Impact Grants and a year’s worth of custom coaching to help them further their missions and advance equity and belonging throughout the region. The grants were announced by the County’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice. 

The County also further boosted local economies and the hopes of aspiring chefs over the past year by waiving permit fees for people wanting to operate “Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operations.” The “MEHKOs” program lets people turn their home kitchens into mini-restaurants and food businesses for a fraction of the cost of opening a storefront restaurant.  

County Animal Services unveiled its rolling veterinary clinic — the Pet Health Express — in May 2025. The wheeled clinic enables the County to deliver affordable pet health service, such as spaying and neutering, dental work, other outpatient care and basic pet wellness to communities that need it most. 

In June 2025, the County Library and 30 students celebrated the sixth Library High School graduation ceremony at Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego. Since the Library High School program was started in 2016, 234 people have donned caps and gowns and finished their own high school education experiences. The program lets students work around their job and family schedules to study at their own pace and graduate. 

Healthy and Safe Communities

In February 2025, the County broke ground on the new Casa de Oro Library that will double the size of the existing library to meet the needs of the growing Spring Valley community. When completed, the new library will include a community room; public computers; laptops that can be checked out; a teen area with study rooms; a children’s area with early literacy play equipment; patio space and a Friends of the Library bookstore. 

In May 2025, the County cut the ribbon on its new, state-of-the-art County Public Health Laboratory. The two-story, 52,000-square-foot laboratory at the County Operations Center in Kearny Mesa is three times larger than the cramped and outdated old lab. The new lab creates space for nearly 90 employees and contractors who can test for infectious diseases like COVID-19; Respiratory Syncytial Virus, known as RSV; influenza and other diseases.

Homelessness and Affordable Housing

The County and community celebrated the grand opening of 79 new affordable housing units, built on surplus County property, in Clairemont Mesa in January 2025. The “Paul Downey Senior Residence” is the first of four new buildings for low-income seniors and families, and the second affordable housing complex to open on County surplus property. 

In May, the County’s Board of Supervisors voted to put $12.5 million into a partnership with the City of San Diego and San Diego Housing Commission to create an 81-unit housing development, complete with support services for residents — veterans and people with behavioral health issues. The development will be the seventh County supported affordable housing project since 2020 approved under California’s Homekey and Homekey+ programs. 

The County also moved forward in May to create two more affordable housing developments on surplus County land — including a 90-unit Mid-City development in San Diego. The Mid-City project will be accompanied by another 150-units for families and seniors on property next to it owned by the San Diego Housing Commission. 

Public Safety and Justice Reform

The County increased safety at its juvenile facilities like the Youth Transition Campus and East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility in May 2025 by adding a new team — a probation officer and her narcotics-detecting dog, Lilly. The pair will help keep the youth at those facilities safe by checking for illegal drugs.