San Bruno extends its mental health clinician program

Previously, Juan contracted with the police department through StarVista, and the nonprofit was paid for her services through a federal justice assistance grant. After the nonprofit closed, citing a number of financial issues, the police department created a temporary two-month contract for her. 

Since that contract is set to expire at the end of October, Police Chief Matt Lethin requested the city approve up to $146,445 in funding for Juan to continue in the job through June 2026. They will also be reimbursed for that contract through the federal justice assistance grant. 

Keeping Juan on staff despite the period of contractual uncertainty is paramount, Lethin said at a City Council meeting Oct. 14. 

“This is the new normal,” he said. “This is really how police need to operate when they’re working with their community.” 

Juan participates in a co-response model with officers, she said, arriving at the scene separately and after police can ensure basic safety measures. Her presence can help de-escalate potentially volatile situations, connect those in crisis with longer term care programs or county resources and hopefully reduce the number of involuntary psychiatric detentions. 

“It’ll help change the narrative — the fact that there’s going to be a clinician there,” she said. 

She began working with the police department in July 2024. In her first year, she helped assist with 64 successful de-escalations, nine voluntary mental health connections and 111 follow-ups, either visiting community members who have been referred to her or checking up on individuals who originally had the police called on them. 

Fifty-five individuals she has worked with were involuntarily detained into psychiatric programs. Statistics from other San Mateo County cities with mental health clinicians show the program can bring those involuntary detainment numbers down over time, Lethin said at the City Council meeting. 

“It’s the fastest way I’ve seen in my 25 years of policing … to connect community members in crisis with mental health experts when there is a safety concern,” he said.  

Pairing a police department response with a mental health clinician can help address the root causes of crime and unsafe behavior by helping individuals connect with the help they need, Juan said. Over time, it can also help reframe community member’s expectations of what it means to call 911 when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis. 

“As everyone knows, when there’s an emergency, everyone knows to call 911 — whether that be a regular traffic incident, someone’s in danger, or it’s mental health,” she said. “It brings another sense of perspective when it comes to mental health calls.” 

Both councilmembers and Lethin expressed hope that the program would continue past 2026, at which point a funding source for Juan’s position is not guaranteed. The county could potentially take a regionalized approach to supplying departments with clinicians, Lethin said, and the department will continue to look for outside funding. 

“It seems like it’s such a great program, it should expand somehow,” Vice Mayor Marty Medina said. “It comes down to, of course, how are we going to pay for it.”