REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 11/03/2021
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Police Department
SUBJECT:
Title
Cooperative Agreement between the County of Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health and the Corona Police Department.
End
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
A Mental Health/Law Enforcement Collaborative Cooperative Agreement with Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health (RUHS - BH) allows a Community Behavioral Assessment Therapist/Clinician to partner with the Corona Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Psychological Evaluation Team in response to calls involving mental health issues.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Approve the Cooperative Agreement between Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health and the Corona Police Department for a three-year term ending June 30, 2024.
b. Authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to execute the Cooperative Agreement between the Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health and the Corona Police Department.
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 non-substantive or otherwise in compliance with the City Council’s actions hereunder.
Body
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
Riverside University Health System has specialized Community Behavioral Assessment Teams deployed throughout the County. On these teams, a clinical therapist is partnered with a police officer to respond to law enforcement calls for service involving behavioral health issues within a community. The team’s goal is to avoid adverse outcomes by diverting individuals with mental health issues to appropriate community services and behavioral health resources.
Currently, there are six (6) Community Behavioral Assessment Teams county-wide serving: Hemet Police Department, Indio Police Department, Moreno Valley Police Department, Murrieta Police Department, Riverside Police Department, and the Temecula Police Department. In addition to the Corona Police Department, eight (8) more of these teams are developing within the Riverside County, including Cabazon/Banning Police Department, Cathedral City Police Department, Jurupa Valley Police Department, Menifee Police Department, and the unincorporated county areas of Hemet, Palm Desert and Thermal Sheriff’s stations.
ANALYSIS:
The City of Corona Police Department and Riverside University Health System-Behavioral Health are partnering to provide service to those experiencing a mental health crisis within the City of Corona through a Community Behavioral Assessment Team (CBAT). The team consists of a specially trained Homeless Outreach and Psychological Evaluation (HOPE) police officer with a County of Riverside Clinical Therapist. The officer and therapist ride together in the same patrol car 40 hours per week. These teams respond to calls for law enforcement services involving mental health issues of all community members, not limited to the unhoused population. At each call they handle, the therapist takes the lead role in evaluating the behavioral health issue of the individual(s) while the officer provides the safety over-watch and law enforcement expertise.
Through specialized training of the clinicians and focusing their scope of responsibilities, the Corona Police Department intends to provide more in-depth assistance to people in need of behavioral health services. Community Behavioral Assessment Teams also augment the HOPE Team’s efforts. Corona Police partnering with CBAT provides an increasingly crucial partnership for police and the communities they serve, bringing the desirable social services required to keep our community safe.
In addition, many surrounding communities experienced significant benefits from this partnership with a reduction in calls for service, jail incarceration, and involuntary mental health treatment for individuals whose behavior is influenced by a mental health disorder.
The Cooperative Agreement shall be effective for three (3) years, beginning July 1, 2021, and ending June 30, 2024. The Cooperative Agreement may be renewed annually upon mutual consent by both parties and the availability of funding.
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 the Clinical Therapist without any offset or reimbursement required from the City. The Corona Police Department will provide a ballistic vest and carrier to the RUHS - BH Clinical Therapist at an approximate cost of $1,375 from the Police Department’s current Operating 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 common sense 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 mental health services as part of the City’s existing policing efforts within the community and there is no possibility this will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: CHAD FOUNTAIN, LIEUTENANT
MICHELLE ADAMS, MANAGEMENT ANALYST II
REVIEWED BY: ROBERT NEWMAN, CHIEF OF POLICE
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Riverside University Health System - Behavioral Health Cooperative Agreement