REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
August 19, 2025
FROM
Georgina Yoshioka, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Revenue Agreement with Tulare County Superintendent of Schools for the Friday Night Live/Club Live Chapters
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Revenue Agreement with Tulare County Superintendent of Schools (Tulare County Agreement No. 260213), including non-standard terms, for Friday Night Live/Club Live Chapters, in the amount of $92,000, for the total contract period of July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027.
(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 revenue item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The Revenue Agreement with the Tulare County Superintendent of Schools (TCSS) (Tulare County Agreement No. 260213) for the Friday Night Live (FNL) and Club Live (CL) Chapters is funded by a $92,000 stipend provided by the California FNL Partnership. The stipend is administered by Tulare County Office of Education (TCOE). 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/or substance use disorder (SUD) services to county residents who are experiencing severe mental illness and/or SUD. As part of the DBH system of care, SUD Recovery Services provides a full range of SUD prevention, treatment services and education for communities and residents of the county.
FNL is a program designed for high school students to build partnerships for positive and healthy youth development that engage youth as active leaders and resources to their communities. CL is designed for middle school students to foster resiliency and protective factors through the development of action-oriented positive activities planned and implemented by young people working with adults. Recently included are FNL Kids (FNLK), focusing on 4th through 6th grade youth, and FNL mentoring, which co-engages middle and high school-aged students.
FNL/CL/FNLK builds community partnerships that support youth by helping to foster a sense of autonomy and power and promote the belief in a young person's capacity to contribute. FNL/CL/FNLK provides opportunities for members to meet and make new friends with other youth who have different social and economic backgrounds, ethnicities, and gender. Chapter meetings allow for positive socializing in a safe environment to help members develop meaningful relationships with peers. Team building activities are often utilized to help foster bonding, friendship and unity of purpose among the members. FNLK youth select their club officers and facilitate their meetings with the help of advisors. Youth decide on projects they will work on and conduct activities for their peers. FNLK program staff provides information, educational resources, and links community resources to club activities.
On February 5, 2025, DBH received a notification memo from TCOE outlining two significant changes to the contracting process for all FNL Substance Use Block Grant to include extending the contract term from one to two years with the upcoming contracting cycle to include budget years 2025-26 and 2026-27 and an FNL funding increase from previous contract terms.
On March 14, 2025, DBH opted in to the continued participation of FNL programming and the commencement of the two-year term contract with TCSS.
On June 3, 2025, TCSS provided DBH with the Agreement, which contains non-standard terms:
1. The County is required to indemnify and hold TCSS and its officers, employees, and agents harmless from and against all claims, losses, liability, damages and costs resulting from activities under the Agreement.
• The County standard contract does not include any indemnification or defense by the
County of a contractor.
• Potential Impact: By agreeing to indemnify TCSS, the County could be contractually waiving the protection of sovereign immunity. Claims that may otherwise be barred against the County, time limited, or expense limited could be brought against TCSS without such limitations and the County could be responsible to defend and reimburse TCSS for costs, expenses, and damages.
2. The Agreement does not include certain standard County insurance requirements, including that the County be named as an additional insured on certain policies.
• The County standard contract requires contractors to carry appropriate insurance at limits and under conditions determined by the County’s Risk Management Department.
• Potential Impact: Without being named as an additional insured, the County may be prohibited from submitting a legitimate claim against Tulare County policies.
Despite the non-standard terms, DBH recommends approval of the Agreement with TCSS to continue the FNL/CL Chapters. The California FNL Partnership housed within the TCOE, remains the funding intermediary for FNL Substance Use Block Grant funds for 2025-26 through 2026-27.
DBH received the Agreement from TCSS on June 3, 2025, and due to the delayed receipt of the agreement it has necessitated the request for retroactive approval. This item is being presented at this time as this is the first date available following the required extensive program, fiscal, administrative, and legal reviews. Retroactive invoices will be reimbursed for costs submitted to DBH, in coordination with the established Scope of Work, upon approval of the Agreement.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health Contracts (Lisa Rivas-Ordaz, Contracts Supervisor, 383-3940) on June 18, 2025; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on July 10, 2025; Risk Management (Greg Ustaszewki, Staff Analyst II, 386-9008) on June 4, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Allegra Pajot, Administrative Analyst, 388-0218) on July 17, 2025.