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Approve the reappointment of Heather Theaux to the Behavioral Health Advisory Board for a three-year term to expire on November 30, 2027
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Published Notice Required? Yes _____ No __X__
Public Hearing Required? Yes _____ No __X__
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Health and Social Services (H&SS) recommends that the Board of Supervisors approve the reappointment of Heather Theaux to the Behavioral Health Advisory Board for a three-year term to expire on November 30, 2027.
SUMMARY:
The Solano County Behavioral Health Advisory Board (BHAB) was established under the Bronzan-McCorquodale Act (Part 2 of Division 4.7 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code § 5600 et seq.) and is mandated as part of the County’s contract with the State to provide specialty behavioral health services. The BHAB is comprised of at least nine but not more than 11 members appointed by the Solano County Board of Supervisors, with a required additional member of the Board of Supervisors. The County BHAB membership reflects the county’s demographic and ethnic diversity as specified in WIC section 5604.5(b).
Heather Theaux is the current Director of Emergency Services/Trauma at NorthBay Medical Center, as well as the Director of Trauma, Stroke, and Behavioral Health. Ms. Theaux participates in the County’s collaborative Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) committee of law enforcement, hospitals, advocates, and other systems involved in emergency care to mental health clients.
Ms. Theaux was first appointed to the Solano County Mental Health Advisory Board in 2015 and is the current Vice-Chair of the Behavioral Health Advisory Board (BHAB). Ms. Theaux is a valuable member of the BHAB due to her vast knowledge of the community’s behavioral health care needs and her interactions with hospital and psychiatric emergency systems. Both H&SS and the BHAB recommend she be reappointed.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The costs associated with preparing this agenda item are nominal and included in the Department’s FY2024/25 Working Budget. There is no additional impact on the County General Fund.
DISCUSSION:
Solano County’s Mental Health Advisory Board was established in 1977. Proposition 1, approved by voters on March 5, 2024, and new legislation enacted under SB 326, the Behavioral Services Act (signed by the Governor on October 12, 2023, and effective immediately), recast the Mental Health Services Act by renaming it to the Behavioral Health Services Act and expanded it to include treatment of substance use disorders. Included in SB 326 is the requirement that each county have a behavioral health board, which encompasses both mental/emotional wellbeing and substance use. On December 5, 2023, the Board of Supervisors approved renaming the Mental Health Advisory Board to the Behavioral Health Advisory Board and approved bylaws for the BHAB.
Currently, the Behavioral Health Advisory Board has ten members. Of the current members, one must be a member of the Board of Supervisors. The remaining nine members represent the following BHAB member criteria (members may represent more than one criterion): one is a veteran, three have lived experience with mental health and substance use, one has lived experience with mental health, five are family members of direct consumers of mental health services, and one represents a local education agency.
The BHAB currently has two membership openings: 1) for a youth representative (under 25 years of age) and 2) a systems advocate or lived experience representative. Per the BHAB bylaws, at least 50% of the members must have lived experience, and currently, 80% have lived experience.
Ms. Theaux has been a member of the BHAB since 2015, having met the regular appointment terms of nine (9) consecutive years. However, per Section II. Term of Appointments of the BHAB Bylaws: a member shall not serve more than the standard terms unless the member meets a criterion as specified in Section I (H), which highlights that “the Board is encouraged to include individuals who have experience with and knowledge of the behavioral health system, such as members of the community that engage with individuals living with behavioral illness in the course of daily operations, such as representatives of county offices of education, large and small businesses, hospitals, hospital districts, physicians practicing in emergency departments, city police chiefs, county sheriffs, and community and nonprofit service providers.” Ms. Theaux’s experience with and knowledge of the local behavioral system is beneficial to the BHAB.
Ms. Theaux earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and a Master of Science in Developmental Psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board may choose not to approve this reappointment. This is not recommended as Ms. Theaux’s vast knowledge of the local behavioral health systems is beneficial to the BHAB.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The BHAB recommends Ms. Theaux’s reappointment.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION