Behavioral Health Commission reviews 2026–29 BHSA plan; staff clarifies DHCS edits and funding limits for clubhouse services

El Dorado County’s Behavioral Health Commission discussed the county’s 2026–29 Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA) Integrated Plan and asked staff for clarifications about state edits, funding categories and workforce strategies. Staff said the plan has been approved by the Board of Supervisors and accepted by the California Department of Health Care Services and that state reviewers required several formal changes to budget templates and layout that altered some numbers but did not fundamentally change programs.

Staff told commissioners that "we had several revisions that were required by DHCS" and that most were template or formatting changes to align with state requirements. Commissioners asked whether public comments were incorporated; staff said BHSA templates do not prompt written responses in the plan but confirmed that public comments were considered during plan development and were routed to program areas for implementation follow‑up when appropriate.

Several commissioners raised concerns about clubhouse services raised in public comment (notably from local advocates). Staff stated, "The clubhouse is not allowed to be categorized under outreach and engagement," explaining that clubhouse services are typically Medi‑Cal billable and therefore must be prioritized through Medi‑Cal billing rather than the BHSA outreach category. One commissioner summarized available outreach funding as "about $175,000 from BHSA and another $25,000 from other sources," and staff confirmed outreach and engagement is a discretionary carve‑out in the IP without a mandated dollar amount.

Commissioners probed workforce recruitment and retention plans and whether the county would participate in the state's BH Connect programs. Staff said the county looked at BH Connect options and "chose not to" opt into many of the supplemental state programs because of administrative burden and a value‑for‑effort analysis; staff added that the county did accept required children's evidence‑based practices that the state mandates. Staff listed mandatory children's programs (multi‑systemic therapy, parent‑child interaction therapy, functional family therapy and high‑fidelity wraparound) and confirmed active contracts for those elements with children's vendors.

The commission also formed a small ad hoc committee to work on the 2026 data notebook (membership limited to fewer than a quorum) and the chair appointed Denise Burke as an associate member of the commission. The remote‑participation request for Commissioner Santiago was approved by roll call under the applicable state just‑cause allowance (motion moved and seconded; roll call approved the request; exact tallies were not specified in the meeting transcript).

The commission asked staff to clarify certain statutory language (AB 2275 / references to 5150 certification reviews and a separate SB reference in a report). Staff agreed to verify statutory wording and to correct any report language as needed.