Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: APPROVAL OF MEASURE O GRANT AGREEMENT -
MOBILE CRISIS TEAM SUPPORT
Date: September 8, 2026
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a motion authorizing the City Manager to execute a grant agreement for Measure O funds to support mobile crisis team operations in the City of Cotati, Rohnert Park and Sonoma State University for FY 26-27 through FY 28-29.
Background
The City of Cotati, in partnership with Rohnert Park, formed a mobile crisis response team in 2021, based on the Cahoots model from the Whitebird Clinic in Oregon. The team was named Specialized Assistance for Everyone (SAFE) for consistency with the Petaluma SAFE team, intended to reduce public confusion. Sonoma State University (SSU) subsequently joined the Cotati-Rohnert Park SAFE team in 2022, to form the current Cotati-Rohnert Park-SSU SAFE team. The SAFE team is operated by Petaluma Peoples Services Center (PPSC) under a fourparty contract between PPSC, Cotati, Rohnert Park and SSU.
Initially run as a part-time pilot program, the SAFE team became operational 24/7 during FY 24-
25. During the early years of the program, the SAFE team was funded by a mix of State grants, Measure O grants, Cotati Measure S funds, and other local in-kind support. In FY 24-25, the first year the SAFE team was fully operational 24/7, the bulk of the funding came from a Measure O grant with local in-kind support. However, each year, the County of Sonoma declined to enter into a multi-year funding agreement. This resulted in program funding uncertainty each year until grant funding was secured, so the SAFE team has consistently requested multi-year grant funding for program stability.
Analysis/Discussion
The attached grant agreement for Measure O funds is a three-year agreement, beginning July 1, 2026. A priority of the County of Sonoma, Department of Health Services (DHS) is to begin collecting the necessary information to begin Medi-Cal billing, across all mobile crisis teams (InResponse, SAFE and MST). Therefore, the primary requirement of the grant agreement is that the SAFE team meets the eligibility requirements for Medi-Cal billing and collects the necessary information in the field using a data platform called SMART Care. Aside from a variety of certifications to qualify as a Medi-Cal provider, a new element for FY 26-27 to meet the requirements for the higher Medi-Cal reimbursement rate is the addition of a telehealth licensed clinician. As of September 1, 2026, the SAFE team is fully Medi-Cal compliant and is live with Medi-Cal data collection for reimbursement billing.
The Cotati-Rohnert Park-SSU SAFE team splits costs (and grant funds) among the members using a two-year rolling average of actual calls for service by jurisdiction. DHS did not want to have variable splits between the jurisdictions in years 2 and 3, so Cotati volunteered to act as the fiscal agent for the Measure O grant. This means that Cotati will bill DHS each year on behalf of the entire team, and Rohnert Park and SSU would then bill Cotati for reimbursement. This would allow for the internal cost splits to continue to vary each year and simplify the contracting with DHS. In FY 26-27, the cost/grant split is 88% (Rohnert Park), 9% (Cotati) and 3% (SSU), based on the two-year average of calls for service.
Moving forward, a priority for all mobile crisis teams is to work collaboratively to secure sustainable funding for this program. The intent is to begin using a common data collection platform (SMART Care) across all mobile crisis teams to ensure uniform data definitions and collection for reporting but also to begin to understand the diversions that benefit from the mobile crisis service so that they can participate in the funding of the program. Additionally, future Medi-Cal reimbursement rates are uncertain. In the FY 26-27 State budget, one time funding was included to maintain the 85% Medi-Cal reimbursement rate. However, there is concern that this won‘t be included in future budgets, dropping the reimbursement rate to 50%.
DHS has also stated to the Board of Supervisors that they intend to work towards a consolidated model of mobile crisis by July 1, 2027. The expectation is that a multi-jurisdictional working group (including jurisdictional representatives of both SAFE teams, InResponse and MST) will be forming shortly to begin discussing this.
Financial Considerations
The City is proposed to act as the fiscal agent for the Cotati-Rohnert Park-SSU SAFE team. The grant funds are intended to pay the “hard” contract costs of PPSC as well as the vehicle purchase/maintenance costs. The other in-kind support costs, such as administrative management, dispatch support, etc., will be funded by the respective jurisdictions as part of the partnership with DHS.
Although the proposed grant agreement is for three years, funds have been pushed forward into years 1 and 2 to allow the jurisdictions some “runway” to determine a long term sustainable fiscal and operational model. If alternate fund sources are not identified by the end of year 2, it is unlikely that the SAFE team would continue to operate in its current form.
Environmental Issues
Where it can be determined with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA review.
This general rule can be applied to activities which could be subject to the CEQA process, but which logic dictates should not be subject to CEQA review. Therefore, based on the information provided above, the proposed action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 14.03.021 of the CEQA Guidelines in that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant impact on the environment.