REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 02/16/2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: City Manager’s Office
SUBJECT:
Title
Mobile Crisis Management Team Cooperative Agreement between the County of Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health and the City of Corona.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
A Mobile Crisis Management Team Cooperative Agreement between the County of Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health and the City of Corona fills a critical gap in addressing behavioral health crisis requests in the community.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Approve the Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis Management Team Cooperative Agreement with a term beginning February 16, 2022 through June 30, 2024.
b. Authorize the City Manager or, his designee, to execute the Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis Management Team Cooperative Agreement.
c. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to negotiate and execute any extensions, addendums, and/or amendments to this Cooperative Agreement which are either nonsubstantive or otherwise in compliance with the City Council’s actions hereunder.
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
On June 17, 2020, City Council adopted the Homeless Strategic Plan (the Plan) with the following vision:
• Comprehensive, five-year roadmap that will be implemented in phases over time;
• Document that supports a flexible and scalable system of services that can respond to changing needs, issues, and opportunities;
• Requires a Homeless Solutions Annual Action Plan (HSAAP) that is tied to the annual budget process;
• The HSAAP includes goals, implementing strategies, and specific milestones that guide each phase of Plan implementation.
On August 4, 2021, the City Council approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 HSAAP which guides Phase II of the Homeless Strategic Plan.
The FY 2022 HSSAP includes goals and milestones related to development of public and private partnerships to strengthen Corona’s Homeless System of Services. Specifically, Goal 7 of the HSSAP directs staff to “develop partnerships with the County and Continuum of Care to support plan initiatives”.
ANALYSIS:
On November 3, 2021, the City Council approved a Cooperative Agreement between the County of Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health (RUHS-BH) and the Corona Police Department. The Cooperative Agreement allows a Community Behavioral Assessment Therapist (CBAT) to partner with the Corona Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Psychological Evaluation Team in response to calls involving mental health issues.
Although the CBAT clinical therapist provides critical support to assist Corona PD in responding to mental health crisis calls for service, there is still a gap in services to address community wide behavioral health crisis requests. As a result of the strong collaboration between RUHS-BH and Corona Homeless Solutions, the topic of behavioral health issues and client needs is a regular topic of discussion. In October of 2021, RUHS-BH received an award notice for a Crisis Expansion Grant which will fund Mobile Crisis Management Teams (MCMT) in strategic locations throughout Riverside County. The County’s goal is to co-locate MCMT Teams in the cities of Blythe, Corona, Hemet, Indio, Moreno Valley, and Temecula. Although the grant is for three years, RUHS-BH is developing strategies to make the MCMT teams permanent through the County’s budget process.
Each MCMT Team will be comprised of a clinical therapist, substance abuse counselor, housing case manager, and peer specialist. MCMT assigned personnel will respond to behavioral health crisis requests from Corona PD, City of Corona Homeless Solutions Manager, City Net Corona, Corona Regional Medical Center, Corona school districts, City of Corona homeless shelter and motel shelter operators, treatment providers, or other community stakeholders. The purpose of MCMT is to respond to a behavioral health crisis and immediately connect the client to the RUHS system of services as may be appropriate. MCMT does not provide onsite supportive services at shelters, housing units or other facilities. MCMT is a field crisis response team. The following provides a high-level overview of the goals of the MCMT Program:
PROGRAM GOALS
1. Provide alternatives to those at risk of injury or death without appropriate mental health/substance use crisis/triage services provided directly in the community;
2. Reduce jail incarcerations and involuntary mental health treatment/hospitalizations for individuals whose behavior is influenced by a behavioral health disorder/crisis;
3. Attempt to divert individuals with behavioral health (mental health and/or substance use) problems into appropriate community services and supports; and
4. Engage hard to reach homeless who suffer from a serious mental illness and/or substance use disorder and link them to all available RUHS-BH and community resources using intensive care coordination best practices.
Although the MCMT Team will be assigned to the City of Corona and co-located in City office space, if there is an unmet and they are otherwise available, the team may respond to surrounding/outer areas. MCMT will never serve clients in City offices or in other community facilities. MCMT is a field crisis team.
The City Attorney has reviewed and approved as to form the proposed Cooperative Agreement.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No appropriation is needed for this Cooperative Agreement. RUHS - BH will fully fund four staff members that comprise the MCMT Team without any offset or reimbursement required from the City of Corona. Although the County already conducts comprehensive DOJ and FBI background checks for all of its employees, the City of Corona will conduct secondary DOJ and FBI background checks for all MCMT employees since they will be co-located in City office space. The costs associated with the background checks are approximately $28.50 per employee and will be paid through the Homeless Programs budget.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the commonsense exemption that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This is merely an agreement to provide County staff who will respond to behavioral health crisis requests within the community. There is no possibility this will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: KAREN ROPER, HOMELESS SOLUTIONS MANAGER
REVIEWED BY: ROGER BRADLEY, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health Mobile Crisis Management Team Cooperative Agreement