Vallejo’s City Council voted unanimously, with the vice mayor absent, to approve a consultant and professional services agreement with the Felton Institute to continue the iHeart alternative response program at a cost not to exceed $1,598,675 through June 30, 2026.

The program pairs behavioral-health trained responders with non‑police mobile crisis and community-engagement services to handle nonviolent calls that otherwise would produce a police response. Chief Jason Tall summarized the contract request and funding sources at the council meeting, telling the council the program had handled roughly 1,800 calls for service since an earlier pilot phase and that police were needed on only about 100 of those calls.

Council members and the public praised iHeart’s performance and community presence. “They brought him food. They brought him water. And they communicated to him, got him in a safe place,” Council Member Gordon said of a recent iHeart response she had observed.

Councilmember Matias and other members pressed for clarity about performance data and case management: Matias asked for a breakdown of kinds of calls iHeart responds to and visibility into case-management activity for people who are unsheltered. City staff and Felton representatives said reporting already exists in the contract scope; the agreement requires monthly program-manager reports that cover the nature and disposition of calls, time on scene, estimated client age and demographics, transport destination and other anonymized fields. The council added a direction that those reports come to the Public Safety Committee at a quarterly cadence.

Funding and contract terms: the staff report said Measure P funding supplies the primary amount; additional support comes from a Protect to Connect grant and separate case‑management funds. Felton representatives appeared at the meeting and said they will collaborate with the city on implementation and community outreach.

Votes, next steps: the council adopted the resolution approving and authorizing execution of the consultant and professional services agreement and the contract was signed under the city manager’s authority. The vote was recorded as unanimous with the vice mayor absent. The contract requires monthly program reporting and, by council direction, those reports will be provided to the city’s Public Safety Committee.

Why it matters: iHeart is the city’s principal alternative-response model intended to reduce police involvement in behavioral-health, welfare checks and certain disturbance calls. Council members framed the approval as a continuation of a pilot that the council and community said had shown early success in response times and diversion from police transport.