DATE: May 19, 2026
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Chief of Police
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to 1) Negotiate and Execute an Amendment Extending an Agreement with the Alameda County Probation Department For Fiscal Year 2026 - 2027 for the Provision of Services at the Resource Connection Network Youth Service Center, and 2) Accept $639,888 from Alameda County to Fund the Extension and Incorporate the Funds into the FY 2026-27 Adopted Budget
RECOMMENDATION
That the City Council adopts a resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute an amendment extending an agreement with the Alameda County Probation Department, from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, to provide services at the Resource Connection Network Youth Service Center, and to accept $ 639,888 from Alameda County to fund the extension and incorporate the funds into the FY 2026-27 Adopted Budget.
SUMMARY
Since the 1970s, the Youth and Family Services Bureau (YFSB) has had an annual contract with the Alameda County Probation Department to provide services as a Youth Service Center within the Resource Connection Network (RCN), formerly known as the Delinquency Prevention Network (DPN). Services include crisis intervention, counseling, case management, and diversion programs for youth who are system involved or at elevated risk of system involvement.
In March 2024, the City was awarded a two-year contract to continue to provide RCN services with the option to extend for three additional years. On April 24, 2026, the City received an Agreement from the Alameda County for a one -year contract extension in the amount of $639,888. The County stated that they are only extending for one year due to budget restrictions.
Council approval is requested to authorize the City Manager to extend the agreement with the Alameda County Probation Department to continue the important work of providing crisis
intervention, counseling, case management and diversion services to youth who are system involved or at elevated risk of system involvement.
FISCAL IMPACT
With the additional $639,888 awarded as part of the recommended amendment, the City will receive a total of $1,882,388 for RCN Youth Service Center services from July 2024 through June 2027, spanning three fiscal years. The 6.8 FTE required to provide the services discussed above are included in the City’s FY 2026 -27 Operating Budget. Accepting these funds and incorporating them into the FY 2026 -27 adopted budget will help to offset the cost of these positions. While the revenue from these agreements does not fully cover the cost of the positions, the costs are further offset by additional revenue from the Medical Administrative Activities (MAA) program. Any remaining net costs to the City General Fund are already included in the proposed budget for FY 2026-27.
BACKGROUND
YFSB’s central mission is to ensure Hayward’s richly diverse youth and families feel safe, supported, and experience community connectedness and general wellbeing. YFSB’s groundbreaking model of integrating youth serving systems across Hayward, including embedding mental health clinicians in a police department setting, allows YFSB to meaningfully improve the well-being of youth and families by maintaining alignment across the systems with which families have contact. This is achieved through offering com prehensive, culturally responsive services and opportunities that promote family stability and prevent juvenile justice involvement through empowering families to build on their strengths, supplement needs and create pathways to achieving goals. For nearly 50 years, YSFB has successfully done this work supporting thousands of families to address challenges and improve their individual and family functioning. Less than 10% of youth who participate in YFSB’s services are arrested or re - arrested within one year.
Since the 1970s, YFSB’s core service of providing mental health counseling to youth and families who are either system involved or at elevated risk of system involvement has been primarily funded through an annual contract with the Alameda County Probation Department for Resource Connection Network (Youth Service Center) services.
In December of 2022 , the Probation Department in partnership with the Alameda County General Services Agency released a Request for Proposals (RFP) as part of a competitive bid process to identify the most qualified service providers to continue to deliver these services in specified geographic regions County wide. Hayward was identified as Region 8. Through the RFP, the County outlined both general and specific requirements for contractors.
The general requirements specified that services utilize evidence -based practices and incorporate three specific approaches:
- Trauma Informed Care Approach, which recognizes the long-lasting impact of trauma, including historical trauma, and implements services and interventions accordingly;
- Positive Youth Development Approach, which values and honors the strengths that youth and families possess as the basis of what is needed to achieve their goals; and - Cultural Responsiveness Approach, which emphasizes the importance of developing policies, systems, and structures that are relevant for families across racial/ethnic identities as well as gender, sexual orientation, language capacity, socioeconomic status, exposure to trauma, migration, and other factors that directly impact culture.
In the Spring of 2023, YFSB completed the application and interview process to provide the services outlined above. In May 2023, a Notice of Intent to Award was received. Subsequently, the County received a bid protest from an unsuccessful bidder. In June 2023, the City was notified that rather than executing new contracts for successful RFP bidders, existing contracts would be extended for six months (July 2023 through December 2023) to accommodate the bid protest process. In November 2023 the City was notified that the bid protest was ongoing and once again, the current contract would be extended for an additional six-month period (January 2024 through June 2024). In March 2024, the City received a revised Notice of Intent to Award, pending successful contract negotiations, signifying the bid protest had been resolved.
On May 6, 2024, the City received an Agreement from the County for a two-year contract award in the amount of $1,242,500 ($612,500 for FY25 and $630,000 for FY26), with the option to extend an additional three years (FY27 -FY29). On April 24, 2026 the City received an Agreement from the County for a one-year contract extension in the amount of $639,888. The funding from this agreement will offset the cost of the 6.8 FTE (5.0 FTE Family Counselors, 1.0 FTE Counseling Supervisor, and 0.8 FTE Administrative sup port) required to provide the contracted services.
Program evaluation of YFSB’s Youth Service Center services consistently shows the effectiveness and evidence-base of YFSB’s approach. In the most recently submitted bi-annual report covering the service period of July 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025 , 80% of participants reached their target level of functioning as measured by the evidence -based Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS) tool. 96% were determined to be successful, meaning the family and/or client engaged in services, crisis cases developed a safety plan, the family and/or client met at least one treatment plan goal, and/or parents/guardians used parenting support. 99% of participants were not arrested while participating in services.
Updated recidivism data is not currently available; however, five years’ worth of data analyzed in 2023, showed 99% of participants were not arrested or rearrested 6 months after services concluded and 98% were not arrested/re-arrested within 12 months.
DISCUSSION
YFSB’s Youth Service Center services have successfully served Hayward youth and families for more than four decades. At a time when the needs of families are only increasing, it is more important than ever to maintain critical mental health services for youth. Moreover, as the field of law enforcement strives to be responsive to the needs of the community, programs like YFSB that prioritize the use of mental health services can be part of the solution. The services that will be provided under the recommended agreement have been developed in partnership with the Alameda County Probation Department. They reflect best practices for keeping youth
positively engaged in the community and preventing involvement with the juvenile justice system.1,2 Moreover, the program model allows for universal access to services with all City of Hayward residents being eligible to participate at no cost, regardless of insurance or immigration status. Services like those provided by YFSB have been shown to mitig ate the negative impacts of arresting youth during adolescence, including reducing the likelihood of future arrest or incarceration and increasing school enrollment and graduation rates.3
Components of YFSB RCN Youth Service Center Services
- Family-focused mental health counseling and crisis intervention for at-risk and system- involved youth ages eight to 18, as well as Transition Age Youth (TAY), ages 18-21 with active probation involvement or non-minor dependents. At-risk and system-involved youth are defined as youth who are habitually truant, youth who runaway, and/or youth at risk of becoming wards under Section 601 and youth described in Section 602 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code;
- Case management services to link youth and families to appropriate community resources; and
- Diversion services specifically aimed at diverting identified problem behavior and preventing formal entry into the juvenile justice system.
Youth and Family Services Bureau Program Staff
The YFSB staff are highly qualified to provide the services required by the County. Table 1 below outlines their education and licensure status. Clinical staff range in years of experience from three to 25 years. The YFSB Family Counselors and Clinical Supervisors reflect the diversity of the Hayward community and three are bilingual, bicultural Spanish speakers.
Table 1. YFSB Clinical Staff Training/Licensure
Degree/Licensure Number of Clinical Staff
Licensed Clinical Psychologist 2
Licensed Clinical Social Worker 1
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist 2
Registered Associate Social Worker earning
hours towards licensure
2 Program Sustainability
It is anticipated that these programs will continue for years to come and a 3% Cost of Living Adjustment has been awarded as part of the current contract extension. County financing comes from state allocations for Juvenile Probation Activities Funding and the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act and is a recurring expenditure in the County’s operating budget.
1 Josh Weber, Michael Umpierre, and Shay Bilchik, Transforming Juvenile Justice Systems to Improve Public Safety and Youth Outcomes (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, 2018). 2 The Annie E. Casey Foundation. (2018). Transforming Juvenile Probation: A Vision for Getting it Right. Baltimore, MD: Author. Retrieved from https://www.aecf.org/resources/transforming-juvenile-probation/ 3 Cauffman, E., Beardslee, J., Fine, A., Frick, P.J., & Steinberg, L. (2020). Crossroads in Juvenile Justice: The Impact of Initial Processing Decision on Youth Five Years after First Arrest. Development and Psychopathology.
The services that will be provided under the recommended agreement are part of the YFSB’s overarching strategy to reduce and prevent juvenile involvement in the justice system by linking youth to services and opportunities that help them stay positively connected with the community. Addressing the root causes underlying youth behavior problems, such as mental health challenges, family functioning issues, school engagement problems, and insufficient access to positive activities and supports are critical components to encourage youth success and prevent contact with law enforcement. For youth who do encounter law enforcement, these services give officers more options and minimize formal processing in the juvenile justice system. This has a clear nexus with public safety and contributes to the overall wellbeing of Hayward families.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Enhance Community Safety and Quality of Life. Specifically, this item relates to Project Q17: Continue to provide family support programs through the Youth and Family Services Bureau.
NEXT STEPS
If the Council authorizes this action, staff will work to: 1) Extend and amend the agreement with Alameda County Probation Department for RCN Youth Service Center services through June 2027; 2) accept $639,888 from Alameda County and incorporate the funds into the adopted budget for FY 2026-27; and 3) continue providing essential mental health services to Hayward youth and families.
Prepared by: Perla O’Shea, Management Analyst
Emily Young, YFSB Administrator
Recommended by: Bryan Matthews, Chief of Police
Approved by:
_________________________________
Jennifer Ott, City Manager