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Board approves restructuring of crisis response; encourages non-police teams and offers cities options to keep PERT
Summary
The Board of Supervisors voted Sept. 30 to restructure the county's behavioral-health crisis response, centering the county's MCRT program while enabling cities to contract for PERT-style co-response teams and requiring a plan to track outcomes across models.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 30 approved a reorganization of the county’s crisis response framework that moves the county toward a Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT) model and non-law-enforcement trust teams while offering a pathway for cities that want to continue the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) co-response approach to do so through community-contracted providers.
Behavioral Health Services staff presented the recommendation after consultations with multiple cities. Under the approved approach, the county will focus its direct staffing and state-eligible emergency-response investments on the MCRT model, which is eligible for state matching funds and designed to provide a 24/7 emergency response. Several cities, police chiefs and PERT clinicians urged the board to continue PERT — a co-response model that pairs a single clinician with law enforcement — citing faster on-scene response times and specialized tactical training. County staff said staffing shortages and funding realities make it difficult to guarantee long-term stability for county-employed PERT clinicians.
The board’s action authorizes county staff to support cities that still want a PERT-style co-response by enabling them to contract directly with community-based organizations (CBOs) that can provide PERT clinicians; the county will ensure contracted CBO clinicians have access to county data systems and back-line clinical consultation. Supervisors also asked administration to develop standardized outcome measures and return with options for tracking outcomes across MCRT, PERT and trust models so the board can compare performance and criminal-justice diversion metrics.
Supporters of a stronger non-police response model spoke at the meeting, citing research that non-law-enforcement alternatives reduce the risk of harm in crisis encounters. PERT clinicians and some police partners urged continuing co-response teams, noting PERT’s shorter average response time and the benefits of clinicians embedded in police operations. After discussion, the board adopted the staff recommendations unanimously and asked staff to return with a plan for standardized outcome tracking and implementation details.
