The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors has approved a $300,000 contract with a family psychologist and a $400,000 contract with a pediatric psychologist to provide psychological and traumatic incident recovery services to preschoolers.
The provision of these services is part of the county’s Head Start effort. Head Start is a program of the United States Department of Health and Human Services that has been in existence since 1965 and provides comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families.
Those given these contracts are Dr. Aine Bergin and Dr. Mary-Catherin Freier, also known as Dr. Kiti.
According to Diana Alexander, the director of San Bernardino County’s Preschool Services Department, “Head Start Performance Standards have specific requirements related to children enrolled in the Head Start program who have mental health issues [and] who are experiencing trauma due to bereavement, loss, or separation. Head Start agencies are required to provide licensed mental health professionals with experience and expertise counseling young children and their families. Head Start agencies design and implement program practices that are responsive to the identified behavioral and/or mental health concerns of a traumatized child. The mental wellness of traumatized children is a primary concern to the Head Start agency and provides parent, and group and individual staff education on trauma-related issues. Education on trauma-related issues is provided during trauma treatment service sessions.”
Alexander said that, “In addition, Head Start regulations require mental health screenings and evaluations that include a formal assessment conducted by a licensed mental health professional. The preschool services department will fulfill mental health requirements through the recommended contract with Dr. Bergin Psychotherapy Family Services, PC doing business as Dr. Bergin Family Counseling Services. Dr. Bergin has been providing mental health services to the preschool services department since 2008. The preschool services department will fulfill behavioral and/or mental health trauma treatment requirements through the recommended contract with Dr. (Kiti) Mary-Catherin Freier Randall (Dr. Kiti). Dr. Kiti has been providing trauma treatment services to children enrolled in the preschool services department’s programs and their families since 2009.”
According to Alexander, “Dr. Bergin provides individualized mental health screenings and evaluations utilizing Head Start recommended assessments to children enrolled in the preschool services department’s Head Start programs and their families. She also supervises the preschool services department’s marriage and family therapist interns who provide individualized mental health screenings and evaluations using a designated preschool services department assessment tool to identify mental health issues. Under Dr. Bergin, marriage and family therapist interns also provide support services for preschool children, caregivers, and teaching staff. Mental health screenings and evaluations are provided to approximately 500 children and their families per year.”
With regard to Freier Randall, Alexander said, “Under the recommended contract, Dr. Kiti will provide trauma treatment services, quantitative research outcomes, as well as research and analysis of outcomes, for supervised group pediatric psychology services for children with grief due to a traumatic loss. The research results are used to provide reports to the county’s department of behavioral health. The overall goal of the program is to provide children the opportunity to learn the tools used to express the traumatic loss or grief they have experienced in a socially acceptable manner. Trauma treatment services are provided to approximately 150 children and their parents per year.”
Head Start and state preschool programs have been operating in San Bernardino County since 1965. Since 1999, the preschool services department has provided these programs through a combination of direct and contracted services.
Alexander said, “Contractor performance will be measured by reviewing the required monthly reports and annual site visits by county staff to monitor compliance with the administrative and program requirements of the agreement. In addition to week
ly meetings with the preschool services department program managers, contractor performance is monitored by review of invoices and annual site visits to ensure compliance with the administrative, program, and fiscal terms and conditions of the contract.”
On the same day, December 21, 2015, the county initiated a bidding process for mental health screenings and for trauma treatment services. The requests for proposals were advertised in the county’s ePro system, through direct mailings to 24 providers with experience providing mental health services, and advertisements in local newspapers. Dr. Bergin submitted the only proposal received in response to the request for proposals relating to mental health screenings and Dr. Kiti submitted the only proposal received in response to the request for proposals relating to trauma treatment services.
“Dr. Bergin’s proposal met the contract requirements and the county’s needs,” according to Alexander. And she said, “Dr. Freier Randall’s proposal met the contract requirements and the county’s needs.”
The contracts are 100 percent state funded by the Mental Health Services Act through a memorandum of understanding with the county department of behavioral health.