REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 25, 2025
FROM
GEORGINA YOSHIOKA, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Contract with Valley Star Behavioral Health, Inc. for Crisis Walk-In Center Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 3 to Contract No. 20-156 with Valley Star Behavioral Health, Inc., for the provision of Crisis Walk-In Center services, increasing the contract amount by $3,867,771, from $25,899,710 to $29,767,481, and extending the contract by six months, for a total period of April 1, 2020, through September 30, 2025.
(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
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The recommended increase of $3,867,771 is funded by Mental Health Services Act and Federal Financial Participation Medi-Cal. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2024-25 budget and will be included in the 2025-26 recommended 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. As the Mental Health Plan for the County, DBH is required to provide a range of behavioral health services, such as crisis stabilization and mobile crisis stabilization, to county residents.
The Crisis Walk-In Center (CWIC) program provides around-the-clock urgent mental health services to individuals of all ages experiencing a mental health crisis. The program targets unserved, underserved, and inappropriately served populations to reduce unnecessary psychiatric hospitalization, reduce recidivism, and mitigate expenditures of local law enforcement and hospital emergency departments. Services are provided by multidisciplinary professional staff including, but not limited to, clinical therapists, licensed vocational nurses, peer advocates, and psychiatrists. CWICs provide crisis stabilization, a bundle of mental health services that includes, but is not limited to, crisis intervention, risk assessment, case management, and medication support when necessary. CWICs also maintain staff certified to write 5150/5585 applications when evaluation for involuntary hospitalization is necessary.
Contract No. 20-156 (Contract) with Valley Star Behavioral Health, Inc. (Valley Star) provides CWIC services as well as overnight Mobile Crisis Response (MCR) services to the High Desert and Morongo Basin regions. The MCR component enables DBH to comply with the state-issued requirements of Behavioral Health Information Notice BHIN 23-025, which includes 24/7 availability of this service. DBH anticipates CWIC to serve an estimated 1,916 clients at an estimated cost of $2,545 per client and MCR to serve 440 unduplicated clients at an estimated cost of $6,495 per client. The current contract for these services is due to sunset on March 31, 2025.
On March 24, 2020 (Item No. 18), as a result of a formal procurement, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the Contract with Valley Star for CWIC program services, providing crisis stabilization services to county residents, in the amount of $17,109,956, for the period of April 1, 2020, through March 30, 2024.
On December 19, 2023 (Item No. 22), the Board approved Amendment No. 1 to the Contract, adding MCR services into the CWIC program, due to the significant similarities between CWIC services and MCR services. Amendment No. 1 increased the Contract amount by $7,898,072, from $17,109,956 to $25,008,028, and exercised the final extension for the total contract period of April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2025.
On August 20, 2024 (Item No. 28), the Board approved Amendment No. 2 to the Contract, expanding MCR services, increasing the amount by $891,682, from $25,008,028 to $25,899,710, with no change to the total contract period of April 1, 2020, through March 31, 2025.
To prevent a disruption to these vital services, DBH is requesting approval of Amendment No. 3 to extend the Contract by six months, from April 1, 2025, to September 30, 2025, allowing for the completion of the procurement process and execution of a new five-year contract.
PROCUREMENT
DBH is in the process of procuring for CWIC services and anticipates providing services pursuant to that procurement effective October 1, 2025.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health Contracts (Lisa Rivas-Ordaz, Contracts Supervisor, 386-8264) on February 24, 2025; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on February 26, 2025; Finance (Paul Garcia, Administrative Analyst, 386-8392) on March 7, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on March 10, 2025.