REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 22, 2021
FROM
VERONICA KELLEY, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title v
Contract with Bezerk Productions for the Mental Health Services Act Innovation Project - Cracked Eggs Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve contract with Bezerk Productions to provide Mental Health Services Act Innovation Project - Cracked Eggs services in the amount of $947,303, for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026.
(Presenter: Veronica Kelley, Director, 388-0801)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Health and Social Services Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The recommended contract amount of $947,303 for Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Innovation Project - Cracked Eggs services is 100% funded by MHSA. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2021-22 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The MHSA is integral in assisting in the transformation of the public behavioral health system. MHSA has stated the intent of the funding is to "reduce the long-term adverse impact on individuals, families, and state and local budgets resulting from untreated serious mental illness”. The MHSA identifies five primary components for funding that are locally developed via a Community Program Planning process. Of those five components, the Innovation component is unique as it focuses on research and learning that can be utilized to improve the overall public behavioral health system.
The recommended contract with Berezk Productions will allow DBH the opportunity to implement Cracked Eggs, an innovative project that seeks to systematically address the issues of consumer wellness and stigma reduction to transitional-aged youth and adults who have been diagnosed or identified as having a mental illness.
Cracked Egg services will consist of a series of workshops designed by a person living with mental illness that teach participants to utilize symptoms from their own mental illness as techniques for art. The workshop series empowers participants to utilize their symptoms as creative tools. This is a strength-based approach to help participants find a form of expression to describe their life experiences. Overall, the series will explore ways in which the DBH system of care can be enhanced and modified to create an empowered environment for individuals with lived experience. There will be 12 workshops during the first four years of the contract. In year three of the contract, there will be train-the-trainer workshops to allow for additional workshops in order to provide the services to additional youth and adults.
PROCUREMENT
There was no procurement for the provision of Cracked Eggs as it is a proprietary program created through Bezerk Productions (Bezerk). The program designer is the only person who is authorized by Bezerk to provide the Cracked Eggs service.
The Innovation Component of the MHSA requires an extensive stakeholder process which involves getting community feedback and support, and approval from both the Board of Supervisors (Board) and the State Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) prior to engaging in any procurement or contract. Through the MHSA stakeholder process, this program came to the forefront as a project the community was interested in pursuing as an Innovation project. After 28 stakeholder community meetings, 85% of stakeholders supported the project and on May 28, 2020 and it was approved by the MHSOAC and Board.
The recommended non-competitive contract with Bezerk Productions will allow DBH to provide MHSA Innovation - Cracked Eggs services to transitional-aged youth and adults countywide who have been diagnosed or identified as having a mental illness. Purchasing concurs with this non-competitive contract. Contractor performance will be monitored by DBH on a regular basis to ensure compliance standards are met.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health Contracts (Natalie Kessee, Contracts Manager, 388-0869) on May 24, 2021; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on May 27, 2021; Purchasing (Bruce Cole, Staff Analyst, 387-2148) on May 6, 2020; Finance (Christopher Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on June 4, 2021; and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on June 4, 2021.