REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 10, 2025
FROM
GEORGINA YOSHIOKA, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Memorandum of Understanding for the Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation Program
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Behavioral Health, Children and Family Services, Children’s Network, District Attorney’s Office, Probation Department, Public Defender, Department of Public Health, and San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, for participation in the Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation Program, in the amount of $1,057,706, for the period of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2026.
(Presenter: Georgina Yoshioka, Director, 252-5142)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) valued at $1,057,706, between the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) Children and Family Services (CFS), Children’s Network (CN), District Attorney, Public Defender, and Department of Public Health (DPH), and San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools (SBCSS), for participation in the Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE) Program, is funded by through reimbursements from DBH’s Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funds. The Probation Department will support the MOU through $144,195 annually funded from the 2011 Realignment Youthful Offender Block Grant. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the respective department’s 2024-25 budget and will be included in 2025-26 recommended budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DBH is responsible for providing mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services to county residents experiencing severe mental illness and/or SUD. CASE was originally developed by elected officials and community members of the County who formed a working group comprised of other elected officials, county departments and community groups to explore the problem of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in the county. The program lacked critical financial support until the introduction of the Innovation component of MHSA.
CASE started as a MHSA Innovation project in 2011-12 with the focus of educating the community about the prevalence of the CSEC, training providers in identifying youth who were CSEC victims and providing direct services to CSEC identified youth. Utilizing a Multi-Disciplinary Treatment (MDT) team approach, the CASE MDT was originally comprised of representatives from CN, CFS, Public Defender, DBH, District Attorney’s Office, Probation Department, and SBCSS. These partners are members of the CASE Steering Committee.
The CASE Program’s Steering Committee plays a vital role in supporting the County’s efforts to prevent and address the CSEC through oversight, coordination, and evaluation. MHSA funds budgeted for this MOU will provide the staffing and material resources for CASE program implementation and partnering agencies roles and responsibilities. These responsibilities include guiding implementation of interagency protocols, promoting training and public awareness, assessing service needs, ensuring data collection and outcome measurement, and maintaining strategic partnerships. The members also help ensure that services and materials are culturally and linguistically appropriate and contribute to continuous quality improvement through regular meetings, reporting, and collaborative problem resolution.
In January 2014, Senate Bill (SB) 855 passed, opening the door for CSEC youth to be served directly through the Children Welfare System and it created a state funded CSEC program. In 2015, the County was one of 10 counties who initially opted in to participate in this program. This participation brought additional funding and a change in the leadership structure of CASE with CFS taking the lead.
The participation in the CSEC program also modified who was a required participant in the CASE MDT, adding a Public Health Nurse and Alcohol and Drug Counselor. In October 2015, SB 794 passed, which incorporated the requirements of the federal “Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Act” (Public Law 113-183), which aims to protect children and youth in foster care from sex trafficking, promotion of permanent family connections and improve their overall well-being, into state law. These new requirements applied to all counties whether they participated in the state CSEC program or not.
In January 2017, SB 1322 passed, preventing children under the age of 18 being charged with prostitution, loitering with the intent to commit prostitution or any crime associated with solicitation. This resulted in a significant decrease in the number of youths being detained in Juvenile Hall, as well as a decrease in the number of youths being served by the Probation department. CFS has become the lead agency in the majority of cases, dramatically changing in which system CSEC youth were now being identified.
Despite the absence of a fully executed agreement, programmatic functions commenced on or around July 1, 2023, with participating entities fulfilling roles and responsibilities aligned with the intended scope of work. Regular coordination meetings, service planning, and operational activities took place throughout the review period based on mutual understanding and long-standing partnership commitments.
In March 2024, it was identified that one of the participating entities is not a County department (SBCSS), which triggered the need to have the MOU approved by the Board of Supervisors (Board). DBH began the process to review and bring the MOU forward for Board approval.
In May 2024, the MOU review period experienced delays due to intermittent response times from participating parties. DBH required more time to conduct internal reviews that affected future budget cycles. Additionally, several rounds of revisions were requested to clarify language in the scope of work, modify staffing descriptions, and revise fiscal obligation that included reporting timelines. Continued negotiations delayed the timely budget submissions from partnering agencies. The additional staffing responsibilities included additional accountability and broadened service provisions, required updates to the MOU language and lengthened the finalization of the MOU.
During the review period of the MOU, program services were not impacted and were continued to be provided. In 2023-24, CASE provided 1,971 services to 42 unduplicated youth as well as training and engagement activities to a total of 1,584 potential responders.
In January 2025, the parties determined that, due to the expanded scope and need for additional accountability, the MOU would be converted into a formal contract. This decision added necessary legal and administrative layers of review and documentation. However, upon County Counsel review of the contract, in April 2025, the determination to revert to an MOU was advised.
Board approval of this agreement is recommended with a retroactive start date of July 1, 2023, to align with the period during which services were rendered and interagency efforts were sustained, as well as to outline the responsibilities for the implementation of CASE as a Prevention and Early Intervention Program. Retroactive approval will also ensure continuity of reimbursement and uphold transparency in the administration of County funds and contracted services.
This item is being presented at this time as a retroactive request as DBH has continued to work with partnering departments and agencies to incorporate all the budgets, roles, and responsibilities.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health (Michael Shin, Administrative Manager, 388- 0899) on May 7, 2025; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on May 8, 2025; Finance (Paul Garcia, 386-8392 and Iliana Rodriguez, 387-4205, Administrative Analysts) on June 5, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on May 22, 2025.