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Alameda County board accepts CareFirst Jails Last report, directs Mental Health Advisory Board to develop implementation plan
Summary
After two years of task‑force work, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors unanimously received the CareFirst Jails Last final report and directed the Mental Health Advisory Board to develop an integrated implementation plan, including a cost analysis and regular reporting to a joint committee and to the full board.
The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 6 voted unanimously to receive the final CareFirst Jails Last task force report and to delegate continued planning and implementation to the county’s Mental Health Advisory Board.
Supervisor Carson, who introduced the motion, said the 26‑month effort produced a set of recommendations designed to move people with serious mental illness out of the criminal justice system and into a coordinated continuum of community care. “The task force developed 58 recommendations,” he said, and the board’s action asks county agencies to develop an integrated plan and identify funding to implement it.
Why it matters: The task force’s recommendations aim to reduce the number of people with behavioral‑health needs who enter or remain in Santa Rita Jail by expanding prevention, diversion, treatment and housing options. Advocates and service providers who testified urged the board to reallocate $26 million that had been set aside for a jail expansion toward community‑based programs, including first‑episode psychosis care and expanded housing supports.
RDA and task‑force members described the process that produced the recommendations. RDA observed uneven access to data across agencies and recommended a second phase of work to produce an integrated county plan; RDA also urged a special oversight committee to keep the implementation moving. Mia Cooper Kahn, co‑chair of the recommendations subcommittee, highlighted strategy areas that include cross‑agency case management, expansion of the peer workforce, and staff training and compensation parity for community‑based providers.
Public comment was extensive: family members, clinicians, faith leaders and community advocates urged adoption and immediate funding. Speakers repeatedly asked the board to use the $26 million identified from a canceled jail expansion to seed the continuum of care the report recommends.
Board action and next steps: The board amended the proposed reporting cadence so that the Mental Health Advisory Board will provide biannual updates to the joint Health and Public Protection Committee and an annual report to the full Board of Supervisors. The motion also directs Alameda County Behavioral Health to develop an integrated implementation plan, perform a cost analysis, and coordinate with county departments to identify funding sources for the recommendations.
Votes: The motion passed on a roll call with all supervisors voting yes.
What remains unresolved: Staff and RDA told the board that several task‑force recommendations require more data and interagency coordination to cost and implement, and that certain public‑protection agencies provided needed data late in the process. The board asked for regular reporting to track progress and funding needs.
