REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 24, 2026
FROM
JOSHUA DUGAS, Acting Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Contract with the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino for Mental Health Counselor’s Office Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Contract with the Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, Mental Health Counselor’s Office, including non-standard terms, for the provision of mental health counselor’s office services, in an amount not to exceed $1,921,005, for the period of April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2031.
(Presenter: Joshua Dugas, Acting Director, 252-5142)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote and Fulfill the Countywide Vision.
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 not to exceed amount of $1,921,005 for Mental Health Counselor’s Office (MHC) services will be funded by 1991 Realignment funds. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2025-26 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DBH is responsible for providing mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services to San Bernardino County (County) residents experiencing severe mental illness and/or SUD. The Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino (Superior Court) MHC serves as the County’s designated agency to provide mental health liaison, consultation, and support services to clients who are involuntarily placed in psychiatric hospitals and are concurrently engaged in court proceedings. These services support continuity of care, coordination between behavioral health and judicial systems, and compliance with applicable legal and clinical requirements.
Continued funding under the recommended contract supports the mental health counselor and assistant mental health counselor positions that provide oversight, coordination, pre-evaluation and consultation services, while ensuring patients’ rights in accordance with Welfare and Institution Code section 5325.
In 2024-25, Superior Court MHC achieved the following outcomes:
• 435 unduplicated clients served
• Average cost of $960 per client
Upon approval of the recommended contract, DBH anticipates:
• Serving approximately 2,000 additional unduplicated clients over the contract term
• Maintaining the same average cost per client of $960 throughout the contract term
On March 23, 2021 (Item No. 22), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved Contract No. 21-251 with Superior Court MHC for the provision of mental health counselor’s office services, in the amount of $1,921,005, for the period of April 1, 2021 through March 31, 2026. Superior Court MHC has provided these contracted services to the County since 1996, when the Board established the MHC to deliver behavioral health-related court support services on behalf of DBH. Since that time, the program has remained a critical component of the County’s behavioral health and justice system collaboration. MHC counselors also provide community-based crisis responses in collaboration with County departments and community partners such as Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, District Attorney’s Office, Office of the Public Guardian, and Adult Protective Services.
The primary objective of the program is to encourage the Mental Health Recovery, Wellness, and Resilience (RWR) approach by supporting client participation and empowerment, coordinating referrals with consideration for continuity of care, and reducing emergency room utilization and unnecessary psychiatric hospitalizations while increasing access to treatment and services for individuals with behavioral health co-occurring substance use disorder, and/or physical health-conditions.
RWR emphasizes helping individuals live healthy, productive, and meaningful lives despite the impacts of mental illness or SUD by improving self-sufficiency and supporting community reintegration consistent with clients’ cultural, linguistic, and personal values.
The Contract with the Superior Court deviates from the standard County contract terms as follows:
1. The Superior Court imposes a mutual indemnification obligation for both the County and the Superior Court.
• The County standard contract general indemnity provision requires the contractor to indemnify, defend, and hold County harmless from third party claims arising out of the acts, errors or omissions of any person and does not require the County to indemnify the contractor for County acts, errors or omissions.
• Potential Impact: The mutual indemnification obligation expands the County’s potential liability under the Contract by obligating the County to indemnify, defend, and hold the Superior Court harmless from the acts, errors or omissions of the County, its employees, subcontractors and agents. In the event a claim arises out of the contract from the County’s actions or omissions, the County could be financially responsible for the defense of the claim and any resulting judgment/settlement.
2. The contract does not require Superior Court to meet the County's insurance standards as required pursuant to County Policies, 11-05, 11-07 and 11-07SP.
• County policy requires contractors to carry appropriate insurance at limits and under conditions determined by the County's Risk Management Department and as set forth in County policy and in the County standard contract.
• Potential Impact: The County has no assurance that Superior Court will be financially responsible for claims that may arise under the contract, which could result in expenses to the County that exceed the total contract amount.
Approval of this Contract will maintain the collaborative partnership between the County and the Superior Court to provide essential mental health liaison and support services. DBH will monitor contractor performance to ensure contract compliance standards are met.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health (Marianna Martinez, Administrative Supervisor II, 383-3940) on January 29, 2026; County Counsel (Jason Searles, Supervising Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on February 25, 2026; Risk Management (Stephanie Mead, Staff Analyst II, 386-9044) on February 26, 2026; and County Finance and Administration (Iliana Rodriguez, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on February 26, 2026.