Leveraging Mental Health Services for Court-Involved Youth

Description

The Judicial Council of California (“Judicial Council”), chaired by the Chief Justice of California, is the chief policy making agency of the California judicial system. The California Constitution directs the Judicial Council to improve the administration of justice by surveying judicial business, recommending improvements to the courts, and making recommendations annually to the Governor and the Legislature. The Judicial Council also adopts rules for court administration, practice, and procedure, and performs other functions prescribed by law. The Judicial Council’s Court Operations and Services Division, Center for Families, Children & the Courts (“CFCC”) supports programs in court settings that improve practice and services for children, youth, parents, families, and other court users.

Mental Health Funding and Service Entitlements for Court-Involved Children and Youth: Many children and youth in California are experiencing mental health challenges. Those placed in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems and youth experiencing homelessness are especially vulnerable to poor mental health conditions. Several types of mental health services are needed to treat these conditions through a diverse array of providers. Over half of all children and youth in California, including the majority of court-involved youth and those experiencing homelessness, are eligible for Medi-Cal, entitling them to primary and mental health services under the Early, Periodic, Screening and Diagnostic (EPSDT) statue. Several types of entities offer mental health services (either directly or through partnerships) to children and youth (e.g., school-based health centers (SBHCs), community health centers (FQHCs), hospitals, community-based organizations (CBOs) and non-profit organizations) which they can have reimbursed through local, state and federal funds (e.g., federal Medicaid matching funds, Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funds, 1991 and 2011 Realignment funds, State General Fund dollars, SAPT block grant funds, and other mental health funding). The complexity of the bifurcated mental health delivery system in California and lack of knowledge about the EPSDT entitlement make it difficult for children and youth to access needed services and for providers to leverage all the mental health funds available to them.

This request seeks a proposal to create statewide court resource guides for judges and court professionals (e.g., bench guides, flowcharts, criteria checklists, directories, and/or other resources) that provide them with the necessary information to assist the children and families they serve access needed mental health services.

Questions should be directed to solicitations@jud.ca.gov and must be received no later than 1:00 pm Pacific Time, April 12, 2023.

Proposals must be received by the Judicial Council no later than 1:00 pm, Pacific Time, May 1, 2023.

Further details regarding the solicitation are set forth in the RFP No. CFCC-2023-17-SB and related documents provided below: