Das Williams First District, Chair Laura Capps Board of Supervisors Second District County Administration Building

R1

That by the end of the second quarter of FY 2023-24, Santa Barbara County amend the existing agreement between the County and Wellpath to provide Jail inmates, in both the north and south facilities, with overnight (24/7) mental health professional onsite services. Overnight mental health assistance for jail inmates will begin soon. The Department of Behavioral Wellness recently developed a pilot program to station a mobile crisis team at the jails during the overnight hours to assist with intakes and providing de-escalation and stabilization services in conjunction with Wellpath medical staff. An analysis showed the mobile teams received an average of one call or less per night requiring response in the community, which will provide the ability to be available at the jails during the majority of the overnight hours. The Sheriff’s Office and Department of Behavioral Wellness anticipate developing policies and procedures, identifying facility needs, and co-locating the staff in the jails by January 2024. Thus, this recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted.

R2a

That by the end of the first quarter of 2023-24, Santa Barbara County amend the existing agreement between the County and Wellpath (or its successor) to provide all medical staff with advanced 40-hour mental health crisis response training. The current contract agreement does not require modification to accomplish this recommendation as the existing contract provisions allow Wellpath to be trained by both the Sheriff’s Office and the Probation Department. The departments are working with Wellpath to explore additional training needs, but in terms of amending the existing agreement, this recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted.

R2b

That by the end of the first quarter of 2023-24, Santa Barbara County amend the existing agreement between the County and Wellpath (or its successors) that requires Wellpath medical staff, when faced with an emergent or urgent mental health case when Wellpath mental health staff is not on duty or available, to be trained on how to obtain outside assistance from a) senior regional Wellpath mental health staff and/or b) an available County Behavioral Wellness Crisis Management Team. The partnership between the Sheriff’s Office and Behavioral Wellness discussed earlier will accomplish the same purpose as this recommendation. The Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Behavioral Wellness have come to a collaborative agreement to staff both the north and south county Mobile Crisis teams at the Main Jail and Northern Branch Jail, so that whenever they are not responding to a crisis in the community, they will be immediately available to assist custody and Wellpath staff in caring for mentally ill inmates in crisis. This will not require an amendment to the existing agreement with Wellpath. Thus, this recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted.

R5

That by the end of the first quarter of 2023-24, Santa Barbara County, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office, Santa Barbara County Public Defender, Santa Barbara County Probation Department, and all local municipal city councils with police agencies (Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Barbara, and Santa Maria), mental health (County Behavioral Wellness), and public health (County Public Health) agencies adopt relevant recommendations for more effective data sharing in the referenced San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) study. The County already has a structure in place that accomplishes a similar goal as requested by the Grand Jury. The County agencies identified above all participate in the Santa Barbara County Data Sharing Committee (previously known as the Criminal Justice Data Committee), with the purpose of establishing processes by which data can be shared and analyzed. The data sharing committee created a Memorandum of Understanding that outlines how data can be shared among the partner agencies. Data sharing of individual records is subject to legal restrictions, including privacy laws and attorney-client privilege considerations, which can limit the ability to share confidential client information. Some of the city agencies have participated on the committee previously but are not currently actively engaged. The County agrees to invite the local municipal city councils with police agencies to the committee. The referenced SANDAG study will not be utilized as a local mechanism for sharing with the County committee, as the committee already serves an equivalent purpose. Although the county values and supports effective data sharing, this recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted given the current structure in place.