REDDING, Calif. 𑁋 This spring, the Good News Rescue Mission, which runs the only emergency homeless shelter in Shasta County, received a game-changing $17.8 million state grant to build a 75-bed residential treatment facility in a region where thousands struggle with drug and alcohol addiction.

Now comes the hard part — recruiting and hiring 10 certified substance use counselors and about a dozen other staff members to work at the new site, about 170 miles north of the state capital.

“Ask anyone trying to get staff and it’s difficult,” said Justin Wandro, the mission’s head of development. “Try to get people who are willing to work in very intense, very difficult environments. It’s hard.”

California has long struggled to revitalize its behavioral health system and expand its workforc

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