Board renews Care Solace contract for one year while staff seeks usage and time-to-placement data

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District board voted to renew the district’s Care Solace mental-health concierge contract for one year — rather than the three-year renewal on the agenda — while staff and trustees gather more data about service delivery and time-to-placement.

Why this matters: Care Solace serves as a concierge to help families find mental-health providers and navigate referrals. Trustees expressed concern about long community waitlists and whether Care Solace meaningfully shortens time to placement; several asked for demographic and school-level breakdowns of requests.

What happened: After staff introduced the renewal, Trustee Murphy moved to renew for one year and request additional reporting from Care Solace; Trustee Rossoilu seconded and the board approved the amended one-year renewal by roll-call vote 6-0. Trustees specifically asked the vendor and staff to provide (a) which schools/zones request services, (b) demographic breakdowns of callers, and (c) time-to-placement metrics comparing referrals to local public and private providers.

Quotes and concern: Trustee Murphy said the service is valuable but requested clarity about “what happens in Orange County” where waiting lists can be long and whether Care Solace can provide interim supports. Trustee Ersoylu urged the district to track “time to placement” so the board can assess whether referrals result in timely care.

Next steps: The one-year renewal will allow the district to collect the requested data and return to the board with findings before considering a longer contract. Staff indicated there could be a modest financial impact from shortening the term and will provide details in follow-up.