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Legislators flag concerns over REACH selection for county outreach-worker contract; only respondent to RFP
Summary
County administration said REACH Medical was the sole respondent to the county’s 2025 Outreach Worker Program RFP and that the county will work with REACH on performance measures; several legislators said they were concerned about the organization’s public statements and the evidence cited in prior meetings.
County administration told the Government Operations Committee on March 6 that REACH Medical was the only organization to respond to the county’s 2025 request for proposals (RFP) for the Outreach Worker Program and that the county has worked with REACH to define performance measures for the 2025 contract year.
A legislator on the committee said they wanted to go on record expressing concern about working with REACH, citing a prior public comment by REACH’s medical director at a county meeting and saying a cited literature review had been presented incompletely. That speaker read summary findings from a review and said some included studies showed no significant benefit or mixed results for compulsory treatment, and urged caution about ideological bias in program advice.
County administration staff said program oversight and impact reporting for the Outreach Worker Program will be handled through the Health Department and reported to the Health and Human Services Committee. Staff also said the county plans to reissue an RFP for 2026 to permit further competition.
The committee did not vote on the contract during the March 6 meeting. Committee members asked staff to pass concerns on to the Health Department and noted that monitoring and performance reporting would be the appropriate route to track outcomes.
Ending: County staff said they will relay the committee’s concerns to the Health Department and that future procurement cycles (2026 RFP) will provide another opportunity for competitive responses.
