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Lassen County supervisors table DHCS behavioral-health contracts after members say packet arrived too late
Summary
Supervisors delayed approval of two multi‑hundred‑page agreements with the state Department of Health Care Services after several members said they lacked time to review roughly 700 pages of materials; staff warned delaying could risk state payments and services.
Lassen County supervisors on Thursday deferred action on two large contracts with the California Department of Health Care Services covering specialty mental‑health and drug‑medical‑health services after several board members said they had not had time to read the hundreds of pages in the packet.
Behavioral‑health staff described the two agreements — contract numbers referenced in materials as 25‑5135 (specialty mental health) and 25‑5100 (drug‑medical health) — as largely regulatory documents that counties must implement. The board was handed the packet late in the week; one supervisor said, "I am not comfortable giving my approval to a document that I haven't been able to read," and asked for more time to review. Department staff said much of the language is standard and that some recent changes (for example, language about paying for American Indian and Alaska Native specialty services and references to traditional healers) were newly explicit in the current drafts.
Staff warned that not approving the contracts immediately could affect the county's ability to be paid by the state for services. The behavioral‑health director explained that the department relies on the contracts to set regulatory obligations, develop internal policies, and pass state audits, and that failure to approve could mean the state withholds funds or places the county on corrective action. The director also described chronic staffing challenges and the county's frequent use of locum agencies to fill clinical roles, saying, "We have a staff of less than 25" while the same regulations apply to large counties.
Several supervisors urged staff to prepare a concise briefing that highlights substantive changes and potential fiscal or operational impacts so board members can focus their review. After discussion, the board voted to table both DHCS contracts until the next meeting to allow supervisors more time to review the documents and for staff to return with targeted summaries and clarifications.
Next steps: staff will prepare a condensed summary of material contract changes, a staffing‑and‑costs breakdown, and a timeline for final approval when the items return to the board.
