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City pursues alternative crisis response team; tentative deal with nonprofit requires risk review
Summary
Redondo Beach staff reported progress toward a mobile mental-health clinician team through a partnership with CLEAR Recovery Center but said the provider seeks mutual indemnity and an insurance-limit clause; council directed staff to continue negotiations conditioned on city risk management review.
City attorneys and staff briefed the council on ongoing efforts to stand up an alternative crisis response (ACR) team to respond to mental-health–related incidents without dispatching armed officers.
City Attorney Joy Ford said the city has explored multiple models — hiring a city clinician (complicated by HIPAA and malpractice concerns), sole-source vendors, and partnerships with health agencies — and had a recent breakthrough in talks with CLEAR Recovery Center, a local nonprofit partner. "They have agreed to provide a project director for supervision, a licensed therapist, and a counselor," Ford told the council.
Ford said CLEAR seeks a mutual-indemnity clause limited to each party’s negligence and a cap tied to CLEAR’s insurance limit, which the vendor has quoted as $10 million. She said staff had not yet completed a risk-management review and that the city’s risk manager would need to confirm whether accepting the requested insurance limit and indemnity language was acceptable.
Council members expressed support for moving quickly because the city’s current grant funding for ACR work is scheduled to expire in December unless extended. Council Member Waller, who said he had toured comparable programs, said he would "be very comfortable with you moving forward as stated" provided the insurance and indemnity terms pass risk-management review. Other members urged continued work with Hermosa Beach on a joint grant application and emphasized that the city should not delay necessary safeguards while final contract language is reviewed.
Ford told the council that Hermosa’s existing Locata contract expires Sept. 30 and that Hermosa had signaled willingness to partner with Redondo Beach on future funding. She advised that a fully compliant city-contracted ACR team would reduce improper law-enforcement responses to mental-health crises and that many 911 calls involve housed individuals. The council directed staff to continue negotiations with CLEAR, to consult the city’s risk manager about the indemnity and insurance limits, and to return with a draft contract for final approval.
No formal vote was taken on a contract at the meeting. Council members instructed staff to proceed with the sole-source negotiation path conditionally, and the city manager said staff would return with a proposed agreement and risk-management recommendations for council approval. The council also asked staff to coordinate with Hermosa Beach on a joint grant application to support the team’s operations.
