(90) Behavioral Health

Mental Health Division

County of San Benito Behavioral Health (COSB BH) Mental Health Division (MH) delivers specialty mental health programs and treatment services for Medi-Cal beneficiaries and individuals who are indigent in San Benito County. COSB BH also provides services for county residents in specialized programs funded through the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), such as school-based programs and programs offered through the Esperanza center, our drop-in center located in downtown Hollister. Services are available primarily in English and Spanish, and accommodations are made for individuals who are deaf/hard of hearing

In FY 25-26 services will continue to be delivered in the community and at individual’s homes, places of residence, with collaborative agencies such as schools, Youth Services Center, shelters, and other community areas to achieve positive outcomes.

Services include:

• Mental Health Screening,
• Clinical Assessment,
• Individual and Group Therapy,
• Medication Services,
• Case Management,
• Crisis Intervention and Stabilization, with the addition of Community Based Mobile Crisis Services in 2025
• Inpatient Psychiatric Hospitalization (delivered at regional hospitals),
• Behavioral Health also delivers services to clients referred from other County departments, with some services provided onsite at the Youth Services Center,
• Mental Health Treatment with referrals from the Superior Court for evaluation for outpatient or treatment facility commitment,
• Mental Health Diversion and Re-Entry Court for criminal offenders and other Justice Involved individuals affected by mental illness,
• Domestic violence victims counseling program, Client behavioral health treatment services for clients referred by Health and Human Services Agency – Child Protective Services,
• An array of treatment, prevention, early intervention and supportive housing projects with services funded by Mental Health Service Act (MHSA) and other DHCS grants.

Substance Use Disorder (SUDs) Division

County of San Benito Behavioral Health (COSB BH), Substance Use Disorder Services Division (SUDs) provides a continuum of care encompassing prevention, intervention, and treatment services. Treatment and intervention services are provided to Medi-Cal beneficiaries and individuals who are indigent.  Prevention activities include school-based and community-focused programs. The continuum of services available are for all age groups, from youth to senior citizens. Services are available to those who self-refer or are mandated by courts. These substance abuse treatment services are provided through outpatient clinic-based services and through contract providers who provide residential treatment, sober living residences, outpatient Narcotic Treatment and Medication Assisted Treatment Programs.

Services include:

• Prevention and Outreach services through funding from the Substance Use Prevention & Treatment Block Grant (SUBG)
• Substance Use Disorder Screening Substance Use Disorder Assessment and Treatment Planning
• Individual and Group Counseling Case Management support
• Intensive Outpatient Treatment Services for adults and youth
• Information, referral, and linkage assistance to other agencies including residential treatment programs, Narcotic Treatment Programs (NTPs)/Opioid Treatment Programs (OTP) and Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) programs. Perinatal Outpatient Treatment that provides focused treatment for the population of pregnant or parenting mothers in need of substance abuse treatment. Transportation and childcare are also provided for eligible clients participating in this program.
• Substance Use Disorder treatment and services through collaboration with county partners to provide support to incarcerated inmates, youth placed in the juvenile detention facility and clients working with Child Protective Services.
• The Drug Court Program is an alternative treatment option to incarceration for individuals arrested for minor drug offences. Drug Court is a project involving multiple agencies such as Behavioral Health’s SUDs Program, Probation, District Attorney, Public Defender, and the Superior Court.

Recent Departmental Accomplishments:

• Expanded the Behavioral Health Student Services Act (BHSSA) grant which is a partnership between county behavioral health and local education agencies to deliver school-based mental health services to young people and their families. These partnerships support outreach to identify early signs of unmet mental health needs, reduce stigma and discrimination, and prevent unmet mental health needs from becoming severe and disabling. The expansion of services will also support local schools in the development of Wellness Centers and parent workshops on campus. This 4.5-year grant began in February 2023 and will be sunset in December 2027.

• COSB BH joined the Greater Bay Area Regional Partnership through the Mental Health Services Act Workforce Education and Training (WET) program that developed a Loan Repayment Program (LRP) opportunity. COSB BH, in collaboration with other counties in the region, has partnered with the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) to make this funding available to the county Public Mental Health System workforce. COSB BH has awarded a total of $100,000 to seven (7) qualified providers that have committed to a 12-month service obligation in a recognized hard-to-fill or hard-to-retain position within the department.

• COSB BH has expanded services by implementing a Mobile Community Crisis Response service to all of San Benito County. Mobile crisis services are a community-based intervention designed to provide de-escalation and relief to individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis wherever they are, including at home, work, school, or in the community. The mobile crisis services benefit will ensure that Medi-Cal members and others in the community have access to coordinated crisis care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.

• COSB BH has expanded programs through grant funding by participating in the Justice Involved PATH program which works towards engaging incarcerated individuals into services prior to their release from jail or prison; Behavioral Health Bridges to Housing (BHBH) program which provides housing support to those individuals struggling with severe mental illness and/or substance use needs; Crisis Care Mobile Unit program which supports counties in the implementation of mobile crisis service through the provision of funding for infrastructure, program development, training, and community outreach.

• COSB BH is participating in the Community, Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, which provides community-based behavioral health services and supports to local residents living with schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorders who meet health and safety criteria. It is a new civil court process where certain people, such as family members, first responders, and providers, may file a petition to the court to create a voluntary CARE agreement or a court-ordered CARE plan. A CARE agreement or CARE plan may include treatment, housing resources, and other services. CARE Act programming.  COSB BH has been working collaboratively with the local court system to implement this service.

• COSB BH has been working collaboratively with the local county jail, Probation, and other community agencies to provide referral and linkage from those individuals who are incarcerated. COSB BH works to set up necessary screenings and appointments for those individuals about to be released from incarceration to the appropriate behavioral health services. COSB BH went live with this program in October 2024 and will continue to meet with other county partners to provide continued support to those being released from incarceration.

• COSB BH has expanded their outreach efforts and have continued to spearhead activities for the community such as Red Ribbon Festival which highlights the importance of living a drug-free life. It presents an opportunity for parents, educators, and communities to reinforce the drug-free messages they share with their children throughout the year through activities, resource booths and dynamic speakers. This is held annually in collaboration with the City of Hollister; Mental Health Month Resource Fair which takes place in May and provides awareness to the community of resources available to help with meeting their behavioral health needs; Wellness Family Resource Fair is an event held in collaboration with the local school districts that promotes wellness and behavioral health resources to those in the community.  March 2025 marked the first year of this event. Farmer Market booths, community meetings, and other outreach events to inform those in our community of available resources.

• COSB BH has expanding our training program and have made available to our local law enforcement and other entities the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) which is a program that create connections between law enforcement, mental health providers, hospital emergency services and individuals with mental illness and their families. Through collaborative community partnerships and intensive training, CIT improves communication, identifies mental health resources for those in crisis and ensures officer and community safety.

• COSB BH has utilized the Janssen & Distributors Opioid Settlement Funds, totaling $26 billion nationwide, which come from two distinct settlements: Janssen Pharmaceuticals (“Janssen”), and the “big three” distributors, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, and Cardinal Health (“Distributors”), towards treatment, community engagement, and grant support activities for those in the community. COSB BH will receive .1104147% of the $2.05 billion settlement agreement. COSB BH will work collaboratively with other entities within the community to develop prevention programs that promote the well-being of our community and address the ongoing opioid use issues.

• With the continued substance use issues within our community, COSB BH was able to expand and develop the Friday Night Live (FNL) program, which is designed for high school-aged young people and is motivated by youth-adult partnerships that create essential and powerful opportunities that enhance and improve local communities and an explore alternatives to substance use, and the development of Club Live (CL), an extension of the successful Friday Night Live program and is aimed at middle school age students. CL fosters resiliency and protective factors through the development of action-oriented chapters. Each program works collaboratively with our local school districts.

Long Range Planning Goals (3-5 Year) for Department:

• COSB BH will expand services to those who are involved in the justice system. This will require the COSB BH to work collaboratively with local law enforcement, Probation, and Health and Human Services to ensure that we are utilizing available funding through California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) appropriately and there is the needed linkage for those leaving incarceration.   COSB BH will also look at additional funding sources to support this new expectation from the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to the counties.

• In March 2024, voters passed Proposition 1, a transformation of California's behavioral health system. The new law includes two parts: the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) and a $6.4 billion Behavioral Health Bond for community infrastructure and housing. COSB BH will need to develop an integrated behavioral health implementation plan, develop a housing intervention program, and provide fiscal transparency to the Department of Health Care Services and the community on our programs and services. These changes will also include those populations that struggle with substance use issues being a part of this programming. Launch of the new BHSA will be July 1, 2026 and updates done annually.

• COSB BH will need to develop and expand Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs). These EBPs will support those with significant behavioral health needs by providing whole person care to qualified individuals within the community. COSB BH will need to identify the available EBPs, train to fidelity and create policies to launch this programming.

• As the state continues to change the expectations of Behavioral Health, the department will explore grant opportunities that will support providing quality care for those within the community and offer growth opportunities for those within the department

• COSB BH will work collaboratively with the local hospital and law enforcement to ensure the mobile services are provided across the county.  COSB BH will also develop relationships with the local managed care plan to ensure continued collaboration and referral process for those within the local county. This may require updates to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or other contract development. This will be an ongoing process in the years to come for the COSB BH.

• COSB BH will be going through a fiscal remodel that will ensure the transparency needed, requested by the state and county, and ensure dollars allocated for activities are appropriately managed by COSB BH.

• COSB BH will work towards developing a plan to meet the workforce needs of the department by working collaboratively with the County Administrative Office and researching what other counties across the state do to meet the employment needs of behavioral health.