DATE: June 24, 2025
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Susan Holt, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT: Master Agreement for Psychological Evaluation Services
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute a Master Agreement to provide psychological evaluation and court testimony services for Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act Conservatees and evaluations for individuals deemed to be mentally incompetent to stand trial (IST), effective July 1, 2025, not to exceed five consecutive years, which includes a three-year base contract and two optional one-year extensions, total not to exceed $375,000.
REPORT
There is no additional Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions, which will allow the Department to contract with providers who employ licensed staff certified to provide psychological evaluations and court testimony services for LPS Act Conservatees as defined by the Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5350 and reports for IST individuals as defined by Penal Code Section 1368. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
Should the recommended actions not be approved, the Department will be unable to provide IST placement evaluations and will be unable to receive a third-party reviewer for LPS evaluations. Without an agreement in place, the Department will need to find an alternate method to provide the necessary evaluations and court testimonies for LPS Act Conservatees and IST individuals.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The maximum compensation for the term would be $375,000 ($75,000 allocated annually) and will be funded with Mental Health Realignment. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues are included in the Department’s Org 5630 FY 2025-2026 Recommended Budget and will be included in future budget requests. Actual costs will be determined by actual services provided.
DISCUSSION:
On October 1, 2020, the County entered into a master purchasing agreement with K&L Clinical Forensic Practice, INC. for psychological evaluation and court testimony services for Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act Conservatees and evaluations for individuals deemed to be mentally incompetent to stand trial (IST). On December 12, 2023, the County amended the master purchasing agreement to add Starfish Psychology Services as a vendor.
The Department released a Request for Service Qualifications (RSFQ) on April 2, 2025, for court ordered evaluations and court testimony services. The purpose of the RFSQ was to establish a master agreement that include all qualified bidders with the ability to provide psychological evaluation and court testimony services for Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act Conservatees as defined by the Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5350, and evaluations for individuals deemed to be mentally incompetent to stand trial (IST) as defined by Penal Code Section 1368. The response period closed on April 28, 2025, and one response was received from K&L Clinical Forensic Practice, INC.
LPS evaluations consist of providing evaluations for grave disability, including review of the individual’s records, and providing declarations to the probate court. IST program placement evaluations consist of interviewing and assessing individuals who have been identified by the courts to be IST for placement into existing secured facilities and outpatient programs.
Utilization Data
Fiscal Year Hours Invoiced Expenditures
2020-2021 81 $12,150
2021-2022 257 $38,325
2022-2023 216 $32,348
2023-2024 268 $52,013
Referrals for evaluations and requests for court testimonies come from the court. Reimbursements to the vendors are made using a fee for service model based on services provided to the individuals. The reimbursement is based on an hourly rate with payments made to providers based off of the provider’s professional discipline and experience. Utilization data from prior fiscal years was utilized to calculate the maximum compensation for the contract. Utilization data for this program indicates an average of 4% growth in hours invoiced and an average growth of 23% in expenditures across all fiscal years.
Approval of the recommended action will approve the agreement with K&L Clinical Forensic Practice, INC., for psychological evaluation and court testimony services for Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act Conservatees and evaluations for individuals deemed to be mentally incompetent to stand trial (IST), effective July 1, 2025, not to exceed five consecutive years, which include a three-year base contract and two optional one-year extensions, total not to exceed $375,000.
The modification and rate modification clauses of the agreement delegate the board’s authority to the DBH Director to make certain changes to the agreement during the term of the agreement, as further described in the Article 14, Sections 1 and 2 of the agreement.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
The Behavioral Health Board was notified of the recommended Agreement during the June 2025 meeting.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Master Agreement
CAO ANALYST:
Ronald Alexander Jr.