“A. Purpose
1. The purpose of the School Linked Services (SLS) Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Program Strengthening Families and Children Project is to ensure access to children’s mental health services by the coordination and delivery of the PEI services within identified school districts in High Risk Areas (HRAs) of Santa Clara County. The PEI Program falls under the County-wide SLS Initiative, and serves to meet the SLS vision, aim, and guiding principles.
2. The SLS Initiative vision is that children are thriving at home, in school, and in their communities through the care and nurturance of families who love them, and through responsive, effective, and coordinated support available from the schools, system services, and community resources that surround them
3. The aim of the SLS Initiative is to improve the accessibility, efficiency and outcomes of multi-agency services provided to children in Santa Clara County schools through improved coordination, design and implementation of services provided by schools, public agencies and community-based organizations.
B. Background Information
1. In November 2004, California voters passed Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA).The MHSA provides for a 1% tax on taxable personal income over $1 million. MHSA tax revenues are distributed to California counties through a contract with the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). The MHSA calls for a transformed mental health system where access is easier, services are more effective, out-of-home and institutional care are reduced, and stigma toward those with severe mental illness or serious emotional disturbance no longer exists. Through the provisions of the MHSA, California counties worked with stakeholders to create a comprehensive, state-of-theart, culturally competent mental health services system that promotes recovery/wellness for adults and older adults with severe mental illness, and resiliency for children and youth with serious emotional disorders and their families.
2. The Strengthening Families & Children Project is part of Santa Clara County’s Prevention and Early Intervention (PEI) Plan (www.BHSD.org/mhsa/pei). The Strengthening Families & Children Project contains two components. The first component is aimed at providing parents with family counseling, child-centered treatment services, and other outcome-based parenting strategies to help prevent and intervene in the early development of emotional and behavioral problems in young children. The second component is to implement the continuum of services targeting geographic regions of high need clients.”
Excerpted from Santa Clara County Behavioral Services Department RFP-BHS-FY17-0173.