REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
December 16, 2025
FROM
GEORGINA YOSHIOKA, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Contracts for Environmental Prevention Strategies and Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve contracts with the following agencies, for the provision of Environmental Prevention Strategies and Services, in a total combined amount not to exceed $9,000,000, for the contract period of January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2030:
1. Institute for Public Strategies, in the amount not to exceed $4,500,000.
2. Reach Out West End, in the amount not to exceed $3,060,000.
3. Rim Family Services, Inc., in the amount not to exceed $1,440,000.
(Presenter: Jennifer Alsina, Assistant Director, 252-5142)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The contracts' amount not to exceed $9,000,000 for Environmental Prevention Strategies and Services (EPSS) is funded by the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2025-26 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DBH is responsible for providing mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services to San Bernardino County (County) residents experiencing severe mental illness and/or SUD. Through its Substance Use Disorder and Recovery Services division, DBH provides a full range of SUD services for county residents through contracts with community-based organizations (CBOs) and County operated clinics with the goal of promoting prevention, intervention, treatment, education, recovery, and resiliency for individuals and families.
DBH provides EPSS to county residents as part of its SUD continuum of care. The EPSS program objective is to achieve positive change by reducing SUD issues among youth in the county. DBH has provided these countywide services through contracted providers since 2007.
EPSS are designed to provide effective community-level results using the five integrated strategies of data collection and analysis, community organizing, policy development based on environmental or community condition change, media advocacy, and enforcement. These strategies were developed to drive changes within the county to align with the four primary SUD Prevention Initiatives: Alcohol Prevention, Cannabis Prevention, Methamphetamine Prevention, and Opioid and other Emerging Substances Prevention.
During 2024-25, EPSS conducted outreach activities at 220 health fairs/conferences and community events, conducted 198 speaking engagements, managed nine active coalitions throughout the county, and conducted 212 training sessions on environmental prevention strategies and issues. In addition, providers collected a total of 2,318 surveys which assisted in determining community risk levels.
Upon approval, Rim Family Services, Inc. (RFS), Reach Out West End (ROWE), and Institute for Public Strategies (IPS) will provide EPSS throughout the county. DBH anticipates that EPSS will include the completion of 360 prevention related media pieces, approximately 1,000 outreach events, implementation of 24 prevention policies, and completion of approximately 8,250 surveys from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2030.
DBH will implement mechanisms to regularly 1) review client service data and progress, conduct site visits and annual monitoring to ensure performance and compliance standards of the contract(s) are met; and 2) review provider invoices to ensure expenses are accurate prior to payment processing.
PROCUREMENT
On August 8, 2025, the County Administrative Office approved the release of Request for Proposals (RFP) No. DBHE25-ADMN-5929 through the Electronic Procurement Network (ePro) with the Purchasing Department, to solicit interested and qualified organizations and agencies to provide EPSS for all regions of the County. The RFP was publicly advertised in local newspapers and sent through direct mailings to a total of 561 CBOs, service providers, and other interested parties.
Four proposals were received by the established deadline. Three of the proposals, received from the agencies listed below, met the minimum requirements and were reviewed during the evaluation process:
|
Proposing Agency |
Proposed Region |
|
RFS |
Mountain |
|
ROWE |
Low Desert, West End |
|
IPS |
Central Valley, High Desert, East Valley |
The evaluation committee evaluated the proposals based on the criteria referenced in the RFP. The evaluation criteria included: ability to serve the target population, proposed program services and strategies, ability to service the necessary number of unduplicated participants, readiness to provide services, experience, staffing levels and qualifications, appropriateness of facility (in Geographic Service Option/area, proximity to mass transit, facility layout, etc.), ability to serve specific geographic area, and the ability to measure outcomes.
Based on the evaluation criteria, the evaluation committee recommended RFS, ROWE, and IPS for the award. RFS, ROWE, and IPS were all awarded for the regions for which each respective provider proposed service. Award letters were sent to all proposers on October 10, 2025.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health (Marianna Martinez, Administrative Supervisor II, 383-3940) on October 20, 2025; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on November 17, 2025; Purchasing (Jessica Barajas, Buyer II, 387-3375) on November 7, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Paul Garcia, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on November 25, 2025.