REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
January 27, 2026
FROM
JOSHUA DUGAS, Acting Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Amendments to Contracts for Comprehensive Treatment Services Student Assistance Program and School-Aged Treatment Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve Amendment No. 1 to the following contracts, for the provision of the Comprehensive Treatment Services, Student Assistance Program, and School-Aged Treatment Services, updating standard contract language and updating the grantor’s name from the State of California Mental Health Services Oversight Accountability Commission to the State of California Behavioral Health Service Oversight and Accountability Commission, and updating the grant name from Mental Health Student Services Act to Behavioral Health Student Services Act:
a. Desert/Mountain Children’s Center, Contract No. 25-167, with no change to the contract period of April 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026 or contract amount of $18,124,095.
b. South Coast Children's Society, Inc., dba South Coast Community Services, Contract No. 25-170, with no change to the contract period of April 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026 or contract amount of $15,751,925.
2. Authorize the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health to execute any subsequent non-substantive amendments to the contracts listed in Recommendation No. 1 on behalf of the County, subject to review by County Counsel.
3. Direct the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health to transmit all non-substantive amendments to the contracts listed in Recommendation No. 1 to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors within 30 days of execution.
(Presenter: Jennifer Alsina, Assistant Director, 252-5142)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
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
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The Amendments for Comprehensive Treatment Services (CTS), Student Assistance Program (SAP) services, and School-Aged Treatment Services (SATS) will be funded by Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA), Federal Financial Participation Medi-Cal, and 2011 Realignment funds. Additionally, $10,017,644 in matching funds will be provided by Desert Mountain Special Education Local Planning Area (DMSELPA) to support the recommended contract with Desert/Mountain Children’s Center (DMCC). Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2025-26 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. An integral part of the service delivery system consists of County-operated and contracted service providers delivering a variety of mental health treatment services. CTS provides quality, prevention, and strength-based mental health services to families and students, allowing success at school and in the community through empowerment and building strong family relationships. SAP and SATS are two distinctive programs that collectively represent a large portion of the children’s continuum of care for mental health services, and each program is expected to collaborate cohesively with the other.
SAP is a school-based approach to providing focused services to students in need of interventions for SUD, mental health, academic, emotional, and/or social issues. The program serves children, youth, and their families who have been exposed to trauma, experiencing the first onset of serious psychiatric illness, in stressed families, at-risk for school failure, and/or at-risk of or are experiencing juvenile justice involvement (JJI). SATS provides services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries who are at-risk of school failure due to SUD, JJI, mental health, emotional, and/or social issues. SATS serves school-age Medi-Cal eligible children and youth, up to the age of 21 who experience significant distress and/or dysfunction due to mental health condition.
DMSELPA is a Local Education Agency support service office that liaises with desert and mountain local school districts and collaborates with DMCC to fulfill contractual obligations. DMSELPA will provide a match of $10,017,644 to offset costs for Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment Medi-Cal Special Mental Health Services to eligible children and youth. This non-federal match will allow for additional funded services to children and youth served by DMCC through the SATS program. This additional funding is included in the contract award to DMCC.
On March 25, 2025 (Item No. 21), the Board of Supervisors approved contracts with DMCC and South Coast Children's Society, Inc., dba South Coast Community Services, to provide CTS for the contract period of April 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. Contracts were awarded to these providers due to their ability to serve the target population with adequate experience, staffing, and qualifications, ability to service the necessary number of unduplicated clients, and the ability to measure performance outcomes.
In March 2024, voters approved Proposition 1, which included the BHSA. As a result, in July 2026, DBH staff was notified that the Mental Health Services Oversight Accountability Commission’s name changed to Behavioral Health Services Oversight Accountability Commission, the Mental Health Service Act will be changed to BHSA, and the Mental Health Student Services Act will be changed to the Behavioral Health Student Services Act (BHSSA), effective July 2026.
The transition to BHSSA highlights prioritization of behavioral health care funding to service provision, expanding access to ensure county residents can get necessary assistance in their communities. This transition will further assist individuals with significant mental health needs by adding treatment for SUD and expanding housing interventions, such as rental assistance and interim housing. The SAP and SATS services will not be impacted by the transitions to BHSSA and BHSA. Beginning February 1, 2026, Medi-Cal reimbursement under Mode 45 (prevention services) and Mode 15 (early interventions), will allow more access to care by priority populations.
Approval of the Amendments listed in Recommendation No. 1 will allow for new budget schedules to reflect new naming conventions from Mental Health Services Oversight Accountability (MHSOA) to Behavioral Health Service Oversight and Accountability (BHSOA), and reallocation of grant funds issued under BHSOA and CTS services to continue supporting clients under the SAP and SATS programs.
In 2024-25, the following was accomplished through the CTS, SAT, and SATS programs:
• DBH served 47,608 unduplicated participants through CTS programs
• 9,818 children and youth received early intervention services
• Average cost of $518/per client
Education, outreach, and support to help students and school staff understand mental wellness were provided in the form of Mental Health and Substance Use Screenings and Assessments, Mental Health Educational Presentations, Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, Individual and Group Counseling, Alcohol and Drug Education and Intervention.
DBH will continue to implement existing mechanisms that regularly 1) review client service data and progress, conduct site visits and annual monitoring to ensure performance and compliance standards of the contract(s) are met; 2) review 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) review provider invoices administratively and programmatically to ensure client and/or bed counts are accurate prior to payment processing.
Delegated authority is being requested to authorize the Director of DBH to execute non-substantive amendment to contracts to help expedite amendments to existing contracts without disrupting services.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health (Marianna Martinez, Administrative Supervisor II, 383-3940) on December 15, 2025; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on December 17, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Paul Garcia, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on January 8, 2026.