City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: CONSENT CALENDAR
Lead Department: Police
Meeting Date: February 2, 2026
Report #:2512-5757
TITLE
Approve and Authorize the City Manager to Execute an MOU Between the City of Palo Alto and the County of Santa Clara to Support the City's Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) Program for a Term of Five Years and a Not-To-Exceed Amount of $1.4 Million and Approval of a Budget Amendment in the General Fund and Stanford University Medical Center Fund; CEQA status - not a project.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Approve and Authorize the City Manager to Execute an MOU Between the City of Palo Alto and the County of Santa Clara to Support the City's Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) Program for a Term of Five Years and a Not-To-Exceed Amount of $1.4 million (Attachment A); and
2. Amend the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Appropriation for the General Fund (requires a 2/3 vote) by:
a. Increasing the transfer from the Stanford University Medical Center (SUMC) Development Fund by $135,500; and
b. Increasing the expenditure appropriation for the Police Department by $135,500.
3. Amend the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Appropriation for the Stanford University Medical Center Fund (requires 2/3 vote) by:
a. Increasing transfer to the General Fund by $135,500; and b. Decreasing fund balance in the Stanford University Medical Center Fund, Community Health and Safety by $135,500.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) consists of one police officer employed by the Palo Alto Police Department (PAPD) paired full-time with one clinician employed by the Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services Department (BHSD). The PERT unit
responds to calls of people experiencing mental health crisis. The City and County successfully deployed a pilot PERT program in November 2021 and Council converted the program to ongoing in FY 2023. The County notified the City in late 2025 that their funding to hire clinicians assigned to PERT units no longer existed. BHSD now has a clinician if the City provides funding. This MOU (Attachment A) would provide funding to County to staff one clinician for PAPD for five years. The City’s cost will not exceed $1.4 million through December 31, 2030, subject to the annual availability and appropriation of funds.
BACKGROUND
The PERT co-response model pairing police officers with mental health clinicians originally began in Southern California in the 1990s and continues there to this day. PERT units respond to the most acute calls for service involving a person experiencing a mental health crisis; the combined resources of a police officer and a clinician allow for a more comprehensive response that is designed to provide the best possible resolution for the client. When BHSD began exploring the idea of bringing a PERT program to Santa Clara County in the early 2010s, the PAPD was the first municipal law enforcement agency in the county to volunteer to host a clinician.
In 2020 and 2021, the City’s race and equity efforts to supplement law enforcement response options accelerated the desire to bring a PERT program to Palo Alto. Once BHSD developed the program and identified third-party funding to hire PERT clinicians, the City became the first municipality within Santa Clara County to field a PERT unit in November 2021. The City’s PERT unit operated as a pilot program until October 2022. The PERT unit operates in an unmarked police car, with the assigned officer wearing a plainclothes-style uniform to be distinct from a regular patrol officer. The 11-month deployment was a success, as the PAPD PERT unit handled more than 350 calls for service, conducted more than 175 follow-up visits with clients, provided mental health resources to more than 290 people not associated with calls for service or follow- up visits, and diverted at least 110 people to services in lieu of involuntary hospitalizations. For more background information on the original legislative process to bring PERT to Palo Alto, refer to the staff report issued to the Policy and Services Committee on March 9, 20211 .
In June 2022, Council converted the PERT program from a pilot to an ongoing one, adding one FTE police officer position in the FY2023 adopted budget2 to fund the PERT officer moving forward. The County would still fund and supply the clinician; however, BHSD efforts to hire a new clinician for Palo Alto continued but were ultimately unsuccessful. 1 Policy and Services Committee, March 9, 2021; Agenda Item #1; SR # 12051 https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas-minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports- cmrs/year-archive/2021/id-12051.pdf
2 City of Palo Alto FY2023 Adopted Operating Budget, June 2022; page 345 https://www.paloalto.gov/files/assets/public/v/1/administrative-services/city-budgets/fy-2023-city- budget/adopted-fy23/operating-budget_final-4.pdf
In late 2025, County notified the City that they can no longer fund a PERT clinician for Palo Alto, but they could supply one if Palo Alto provided the funding.
ANALYSIS
Staff recommends that Council authorize the City Manager to execute this MOU to provide funding to County to staff one clinician for PAPD for five years using the Stanford University Medical Center (SUMC) development fund for the remainder of FY 2026, and through the annual budget process thereafter through the term of the agreement. This will bring a PERT unit back to Palo Alto through 2030 and in so doing, provide a more comprehensive response to community members experiencing acute mental health crises. The PERT program is unique among the various mental health response models; the pairing of a police officer with a licensed clinician, with all their diverse training and experience brought together to every call, allows them to provide service to clients in the most comprehensive and compassionate way possible.
A weekly shift cycle for the PAPD Field Services Division (patrol) is 24 hours per day, seven days per week. One PERT team covers approximately 24% of the weekly shift cycle, working four 10- hour shifts. As mentioned in a May 2023 update to the Policy & Services Committee5, the Department still believes it would be most ideal for the community to have PERT coverage seven days a week (approximately 48% of the weekly shift cycle). If resources become available in the future, the Department intends to return to Council to seek to add a second PERT unit.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
This agreement establishes a five-year partnership with Santa Clara County for the PERT program, beginning January 1, 2026. The County will provide one full-time licensed clinician and invoice the City monthly for the personnel costs of employing the clinician. The County estimates minimum cost to the City is $271,000 annually, which would translate to $135,500 for the six months remaining in FY2026.
While the County is not providing a guaranteed cost after the first year, it does detail the cost basis which includes the fully weighted cost of salary, benefits, and any training for the clinician in accordance with the County’s memorandum of understanding with the applicable bargaining unit.
The City can limit escalated financial exposure by terminating the agreement at any time, without cause, with 60-day written notice. The City will update funding as needed with every annual budget cycle through the term of the agreement, which is estimated to cost $1.4 million over five years subject to annual approval.
5 Policy & Services Committee, May 9, 2023; Agenda Item #1; SR # 2303-1142 https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/viewer/preview?id=1889&type=0 For the remainder of FY2026, the Department is requesting use of the Stanford University Medical Center (SUMC) development fund set-aside for public safety, specifically, mental health public safety as noted in the FY2026 Adopted Operating budget (which had a fund balance of $1.2 million as of last reporting7). As outlined in the FY 2026 Adopted Budget, the PERT Police Officer assigned to this team is also funded from this SUMC resource. Upon exhaustion of the remaining one-time SUMC funding of $1.2 million, an alternative source will need to be identified prior to the completion of this contract.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The Police Department has engaged the Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Services Department to explore funding for a PERT clinician. The Police Department also consulted with the City Manager's Office, City Attorney, Community Services Department, and Office of Management and Budget to ensure that the PERT program continued to serve the community in collaboration with other urgent/crisis mental health response initiatives such as the Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT) and the Trusted Response Urgent Support Team (TRUST).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Council action on this item is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), as it can be seen with certainty that the activity will not have a significant effect on the environment.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: MOA Between County of Santa Clara and City of Palo Alto for PERT Clinician, 2026 through 2030
APPROVED BY:
Andrew Binder, Police Chief
7 City of Palo Alto FY2026 Adopted Operating Budget, June 2025; page 151 https://www.paloalto.gov/files/assets/public/v/1/administrative-services/city-budgets/fy-2026-city- budget/adopted/fy-2026-adopted-operating-budget_final.pdf