REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
August 22, 2023
FROM
GEORGINA YOSHIOKA, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Non-Financial Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Ontario for the Community Outreach and Support Team Program
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve the non-financial Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Ontario, on behalf of its Fire and Police Departments, for no-cost office space for the Department of Behavioral Health staff to provide crisis services to residents of San Bernardino County through the Community Outreach and Support Team program, effective August 22, 2023 through July 31, 2026, with the option to extend for two additional one-year periods.
(Presenter: Georgina Yoshioka, 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
Approval of this item will not require the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). This is a non-financial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that allows San Bernardino County (County) on behalf of the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) to utilize office space located within the Ontario Police Department (OPD) and have access to field support from the Ontario Fire Department (OFD) at no cost to the County. The MOU is for the agencies to provide crisis intervention services in collaboration through the Community Outreach and Support Team (COAST) program.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since 2015, DBH has partnered with various key agencies for use of office space within the agency, at no cost, to place DBH crisis triage staff in underserved areas throughout the county. DBH manages locations known as ‘points of access’ within agencies such as law enforcement, hospital emergency departments, colleges, and agencies within the judicial court system, to assist residents experiencing a mental health crisis.
Following the success of the COAST pilot program with the City of Fontana, MOU No. 22-140 as approved by the Board of Supervisors on March 1, 2022 (Item No. 19), the City of Ontario (City) will be providing no cost office space at OPD to collaborate with DBH in piloting the COAST program in the City. The COAST pilot program consists of a crisis response mobile unit, which includes a behavioral health professional of the DBH Triage Engagement and Support Team (TEST), an OFD firefighter Emergency Medical Technician and their assigned therapy canine, and a plain-clothed specialty trained OPD police officer with the purpose of working as a multidisciplinary team to respond to the behavioral health needs of residents during specific crisis encounters in the field.
Recently, the OPD law enforcement dispatch center has experienced an increased number of behavioral health related 911 emergency calls. The City wishes to collaborate with DBH for enhanced rapid crisis stabilization, thus avoiding unnecessary incarcerations and/or hospitalizations, as well as reducing law enforcement and emergency hospital expenditures; the collaboration would begin as soon as Board approval is granted for the MOU.
Currently, DBH TEST staff are co-located within various County and non-County agencies countywide through no cost office space MOUs. The TEST program provides specialized crisis intervention, continuum of care, and intensive case management for individuals experiencing an urgent psychiatric health condition with up to 59 days of follow up services. This MOU will add an existing TEST staff member as a member of the multidisciplinary team in the COAST program. The agencies that are currently partnered with DBH for the COAST program are the City of Fontana Fire and Police Departments, City of San Bernardino Police Department, San Bernardino County Fire Protection District and San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
It is anticipated that the COAST team will provide services to approximately 400 unduplicated City residents annually. The MOU reaffirms the County’s commitment to provide access to crisis intervention services for underserved populations at various collaborated sites throughout the county. The MOU may be terminated without cause upon 30 days’ written notice by either party.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health Contracts (Natalie Kessee, Contracts Supervisor, 388-0869) on July 25, 2023; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on July 26, 2023; Finance (Christopher Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on August 3, 2023; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0238) on August 7, 2023.