Shasta County supervisors were scheduled to consider a three-year, retroactive agreement with Hill Country Community Clinic to operate the Community Mental Health Resource Center, known as the CARE Center, in Redding.
The county staff report recommends an agreement covering July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029, with payments capped at $2,621,006.70. The report says the contract would have no General Fund impact and would be funded through the Mental Health Services Act budget while the state transitions to the Behavioral Health Services Act.
The CARE Center serves Shasta County residents with mental-health evaluations, referrals, caregiver support, crisis access, peer support, education, case management, transportation assistance and housing-related support. The proposed personal-services agreement calls for services 365 days a year, generally from noon to 9 p.m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends and holidays.
According to the county report, the center served an average of 225 unique clients and recorded an average of 702 visits per month in fiscal year 2024-25. The report also says the center provided 17,098 services and made 5,396 referrals during that fiscal year. Those figures are county-reported totals; the available materials do not include independent verification.
The agreement sets performance expectations rather than documenting that the targets have been met. They include an average of at least 200 unique individuals receiving assessments per quarter, at least 85 unique people receiving peer services per quarter and at least 30 referrals per month to additional mental-health resources. It also calls for a minimum 15% reduction in psychiatric emergency-room visits, psychiatric inpatient hospitalizations and arrests or incarcerations in the three months after services, compared with the six months before services.
The county says the renewal is retroactive because of the transition from MHSA to BHSA and the need to align the agreement’s requirements and outcome measurements with the new rules. The staff report says funding can continue through BHSA’s Full Service Partnerships component.
The materials reviewed for this report do not establish whether the Board of Supervisors approved the agreement, rejected it, deferred it or amended it, and they do not include a vote tally.
