Memorandum
Date: September 15, 2026
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Elise Jones, Director of Behavioral Health Services
Subject: Approve Agreement between the County of Lake and Traditions Behavioral Health for Specialty Mental Health Services, including locum tenens and telepsychiatry services, for the term of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, in an amount not to exceed $5,400,000, and authorize the Board Chair to sign.
Executive Summary:
Lake County Behavioral Health Services (LCBHS) requests approval of the Agreement with Traditions Behavioral Health (TBH) for the provision of Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS), including locum tenens, telepsychiatry, and related outpatient clinical staffing services for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. The Agreement is for the period of July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027, in an amount not to exceed $5,400,000.
LCBHS is responsible for maintaining sufficient clinical capacity to provide timely and appropriate Specialty Mental Health Services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries and other eligible individuals served through the County behavioral health system. To support this responsibility, the Department requires access to qualified psychiatric and other licensed clinical professionals who can supplement County resources when additional capacity is needed. This includes maintaining access to psychiatric evaluation, medication support and management, clinical consultation, follow-up services, and other medically necessary behavioral health services for both adults and children/youth.
Historically, the Department has employed prescribing staff and other medical professional staff to deliver required medication services. However, after several attempts to continue this model the Department has been unsuccessful in retaining and recruiting for these positions. Thus, the Department has utilized a contracted provider for these services since at least 2022.
In addition to the longer-term needs of the Department ...
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