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...
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