REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
May 20, 2025
FROM
GEORGINA YOSHIOKA, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Non-Financial Student Internship Program Agreement with Grand Canyon University
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve non-financial Student Internship Program Agreement with Grand Canyon University, including non-standard terms, for the provision of social work student internship training and field experience, for the period of May 20, 2025, through June 30, 2029.
(Presenter: Georgina Yoshioka, Director, 252-5142)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
Create, Maintain and Grow Jobs and Economic Value in the County.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost) as the recommended Agreement is non-financial in nature.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) employs qualified professionals in multiple disciplines including medicine, nursing, psychology, marriage and family therapy, and social work. As a result, DBH can provide necessary tutelage and guidance to student interns participating in a variety of behavioral health-related educational programs. Reciprocally, the use of interns to assist the County’s workforce is a valuable means of maximizing available public resources. Through student internship programs, DBH provides learning experiences that will help students develop the skills they need to prosper in their chosen profession, which aligns with the Countywide Vision2Succeed initiative.
Since 2008, DBH has operated an internship program through agreements with schools and other institutions, which established terms and conditions under which DBH accepts student interns. These agreements enable students to earn required internship hours while working under the supervision of qualified DBH staff.
This internship program offers opportunities for social work interns to gain a wide range of clinical experience with adults, children, and families. Interns will work with highly trained DBH staff gaining experience with the following: triage and initial screening, crisis assessment and intervention, clinical assessment and diagnosis, individual and group therapy, case management and complex care coordination. The program also offers participation in a multi-disciplinary team, collaboration with other County departments such as Probation, law enforcement agencies, and Children & Family Services; and linkage and referral to additional community programs and supports. Interns in community settings may be placed in programs providing services to crisis response and homeless outreach teams.
On February 27, 2024 (Item No. 21), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved a standard student internship program agreement template (Template) for private schools and other institutions. The recommended Agreement with Grand Canyon University (GCU) contains modifications from the Template; however, it remains in conformance with County Policy 11-05. The modifications are as follows: additional language was developed for conformance with DBH’s Sound and Photographic Recordings Policy (COM0922) and requires students to sign the DBH Oath of Confidentiality and Code of Conduct prior to initial contact with DBH clients. Also, the Agreement contains a termination for convenience clause subject to allowing students to finish the semester unless students fail to comply with the internship program requirements.
The indemnification and insurance provisions have also been modified from the Template and differ from the standard County contract. The non-standard terms include the following:
1. Per the Agreement, the indemnification has been more narrowly tailored to indemnify the County against claims for acts, errors or omissions of any School employee or agent. It is also limited in proportion of the School’s comparative fault to the extent of the County’s negligence. The School’s indemnification obligation applies in proportion to the comparative fault of the School and the County’s employees and agents, but does not apply to the County’s sole negligence or willful misconduct.
• County Policy 11-07 requires the School’s indemnification to apply regardless of the existence or degree of fault of the County.
• Potential Impact: The County could potentially have more exposure to liability and by limiting the indemnification to the School’s proportion of fault, the County may be liable for the costs of defense and damages for any claim arising from this Agreement proportional to the County’s degree of fault.
2. The Agreement does not require GCU to meet the County’s insurance standards as required pursuant to County Policy 11-07.
• The County Policy requires contractors to carry appropriate insurance at limits and under conditions determined by the Risk Management Department and set forth in the County standard contract.
• Potential Impact: The contract does not include all of the County standard insurance requirements. This means that the County has no assurance that GCU will be financially responsible for the claims that may arise under the contract.
DBH recommends approval of this Agreement, including the non-standard terms, as it will allow students from GCU to participate in a valuable learning opportunity and provide DBH with additional staffing resources for delivery of services.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health (Michael Shin, Administrative Manager, 388-0899) on April 22, 2025; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on May 1, 2025; Risk Management (Gregory Ustaszewski, Staff Analyst, 386-9008) on May 1, 2025; Finance (Paul Garcia, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on May 5, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on May 5, 2025.