REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 10, 2026
FROM
JOSHUA DUGAS, Acting Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Contracts for Therapeutic Behavioral Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve amendments to the following agencies’ contracts for the provision of Therapeutic Behavioral Services, increasing the combined contract amount by $3,862,500, from $21,212,500 to $25,075,000, updating contract language, and extending the contract term by an additional nine months, for the total contract period of July 1, 2021, through December 31, 2026:
1. South Coast Children’s Society, Inc., dba South Coast Community Services, Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 21-472, updating the contractor’s name and increasing the total contract amount by $937,500, from $5,937,500 to $6,875,000.
2. Pacific Clinics, Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. 21-473, increasing the total contract amount by $975,000, from $6,175,000 to $7,150,000.
3. Victor Community Support Services, Inc., Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. 21-474, increasing the total contract amount by $1,950,000, from $9,100,000 to $11,050,000.
(Presenter: Joshua Dugas, Acting Director, 252-5142)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
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). The increase of $3,862,500 for Therapeutic Behavioral Services (TBS) will be funded by Medi-Cal Federal Financial Participation and 2011 Realignment. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2025-26 budget and will be included in the 2026-27 recommended budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DBH is responsible for providing mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services to San Bernardino County residents experiencing severe mental illness and/or SUD. Since 2008, TBS have been offered through contracted providers as a supplemental Specialty Mental Health Service (SMHS) under the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment benefit.
The recommended amendments to the TBS contracts with South Coast Community Services (SCCS), Pacific Clinics (PC), and Victor Community Support Services (VCSS) will extend the contract term for nine months through December 31, 2026, increase each contract for this extension period, and update the contract language.
Extending the contracts will allow sufficient time to complete a formal procurement for new service contracts to be effective January 1, 2027. Due to delays in processing the requests for proposals for contracts that would become effective April 1, 2026, amendments to the current contracts are being requested at this time to ensure the continuity of services until the implementation of the new TBS contracts.
TBS are short-term, individualized, one-to-one outpatient services for beneficiaries up to the age of 21 years. These services support children, youth, and transitional-aged youth with serious emotional challenges who are experiencing a crisis or significant life transition and require targeted assistance to achieve goals in their individualized treatment plans. TBS provides additional support for beneficiaries whose behavioral or emotional symptoms place them at risk.
More than half of TBS participants demonstrate a reduced need for higher levels of care or repeat hospitalizations along with improved school functioning, behavior, and overall stability. TBS also equips participants and their families, caregivers, foster parents, residential staff, and school personnel with effective strategies to manage challenging behaviors, build positive skills, and maintain progress in the least restrictive environment.
In 2024-25, TBS achieved the following outcomes:
• 283 unduplicated clients served
• Average cost of $16,330 per client
Upon approval of the recommended contract amendments, DBH anticipates:
• Serving approximately 236 additional unduplicated clients over the contract term
• Maintaining the same average cost per client of $16,330
On June 22, 2021 (Item No. 26), as a result of a formal procurement, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved Contract No. 21-471 with Mental Health Systems, Inc. (MHS) in the amount of $6,175,000, Contract No. 21-472 with SCCS in the amount of $5,937,500, Contract No. 21-473 with Uplift Family Services (UFS) in the amount of $6,175,000, and Contract No. 21-474 with VCSS in the amount of $6,175,000 for the provision of TBS, for the period of July 1, 2021, through March 31, 2026.
On November 14, 2023 (Item No. 23), the Board approved Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 21-473, to change UFS’ name in the contract to PC as a result of a legal name change, with no change to the contract amount of $6,175,000 or the contract period of July 1, 2021, through March 31, 2026.
On March 26, 2024 (Item No. 25), the Board approved Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 21-474, effective December 1, 2023, with VCSS for the provision of TBS increasing the total amount by $2,925,000, from $6,175,000 to $9,100,000, and updating standard contract language, with no change to the total contract period of July 1, 2021, to March 31, 2026. This change was a result of MHS ending their contract with DBH effective December 31, 2023, so these services were transitioned to VCSS.
DBH staff were notified that SCCS’ legal name changed to South Coast Children’s Society, Inc., dba South Coast Community Services. Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 21-472 is being processed at this time as this is the first Board date available following programmatic, fiscal, administrative, and legal reviews.
DBH will continue to monitor contract performance and will also implement mechanisms to regularly review: 1) client service data, progress and monthly reports, conducting site visits and annual program monitoring to ensure performance and compliance standards of the contract(s) are met; 2) applicable claims data and claims for reimbursement to ensure fidelity and accuracy of service billing and optimization of Medi-Cal reimbursement in alignment with contract terms and Department of Health Care Services billing requirements; and 3) provider invoices administratively and programmatically to ensure client and/or bed counts are accurate prior to payment processing.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health (Marianna Martinez, Administrative Supervisor II, 383-3940) on February 6, 2026; County Counsel (Charles Phan, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on February 13, 2026; and County Finance and Administration (Iliana Rodriguez, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on February 23, 2026.