Lake County approves three behavioral-health contracts funded by opioid settlement; one supervisor abstains

The Lake County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved three agreements to fund behavioral-health services, including a $1,000,000 contract with Kanokitai Nation Native Wellness Incorporated to serve Indigenous communities and two contracts totaling $2.7 million for residential and foster-youth mental-health services.

Director Elise Jones of Lake County Behavioral Health Services told the board the contracts are being paid from the county's opioid settlement reserves and are the first wave of multiple agreements identified through a year-long community planning process. "We have about $7,300,000 in reserves from the opioid settlement fund that we've been holding on to," Jones said, adding that additional settlement payments continue to be received and that the county will reevaluate spending annually with the SafeRx coalition.

The county moved forward with contracts rather than waiting to finalize all awards so services could begin sooner, Jones said. She described the Kanokitai contract as the first of four agreements ready for execution and praised the provider's community connections. Jones also said the county is directing $600,000 of settlement-related planning toward the county's B-CHIP project to expand the South Shore Clear Lake Clinic and pursuing a planned residential treatment facility certified at ASAM level 3.7.

Supervisor Sabatier questioned the approach of approving individual contracts without a dollarized long-term plan for the full estimated settlement proceeds, which he described as about $18 million in total future receipts. "If we piecemeal one piece at a time, I'm not grasping the vision of how we're going to make legacy change within Lake County without looking at the full total $18,000,000 and how that will be estimated to be utilized," Sabatier said. He said the Kanokitai program is valuable but that he would abstain from that vote because he wanted a clearer expenditure plan tied to the full settlement amount.

Public commenters and a provider representative spoke in support. Angela Emerald, who described herself as a former participant in the wraparound program, said the services make a long-term difference: "It's an absolutely wonderful program." Laura Sullivan, program director with Redwood Community Services, said Redwood opened a second location in Clear Lake to increase access for southern-county families and offered to provide outcome and demographic data through the county's electronic health record system.

Votes at a glance

- Kanokitai Nation Native Wellness Inc.: Agreement for $1,000,000 for fiscal years 2025–2030 to provide prevention and services for tribal youth and Indigenous communities. Motion carried with three votes in favor, zero opposed and one abstention (Supervisor Sabatier). Board chair authorized to sign.

- Crestwood Behavioral Health Inc.: Agreement for $1,200,000 for fiscal years 2025–2026 for adult residential support services and specialty mental-health services. Motion carried 4-0; board chair authorized to sign.

- Redwood Community Services Inc.: Agreement for $1,500,000 for fiscal years 2025–2026 for the RAP program, foster care and Intensive Services Foster Care (ISFC) specialty mental-health services. Motion carried (vote tally not specified on the record); board chair authorized to sign.

The board's approvals advance services for multiple populations: tribal youth prevention programs, adult residential support for people needing conservatorship-level care, and foster-youth mental-health services. Jones said the county's recent transition to a new electronic health record should allow the department and contracted providers to pull outcome and demographic data over time.

The board did not adopt a single, dollarized multi-decade spending schedule during the meeting; Supervisor Sabatier's abstention on the Kanokitai agreement reflected a desire for that additional planning detail. Jones said the county will return with a more global overview of the opioid settlement funds and that the expenditure plan is designed to remain adaptable to community capacity and needs.