Garden Grove replaces Be Well OC for mental health services

Garden Grove will replace Be Well OC with Healthcare In Action for mobile mental health services after the City Council approved a $1.5 million first-year contract, according to Voice of OC.

The change affects a city program that had relied on Be Well OC for 18 hours a day of service under a $1.1 million annual contract. Voice of OC reported that Mind OC, Be Well OC's parent nonprofit, told city leaders it could no longer financially uphold the agreement.

Garden Grove plans to have Be Well OC and Healthcare In Action work at the same time under Garden Grove Police Department supervision until Nov. 30, Voice of OC reported. After that, Healthcare In Action is slated to run the service alone through a city-led pilot program until March 2027.

The $1.5 million first-year contract is funded largely through $1.1 million previously set aside for Be Well and a $450,000 reappropriation from the National Opioid Settlement fund, according to Voice of OC. Councilmember Joe DoVinh said at the late August meeting, "If we don’t use it, we lose it,"

Healthcare In Action will start with two mobile mental health crews operating from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Voice of OC reported. Be Well had previously provided service 18 hours a day, while Healthcare In Action's initial schedule will cover eight hours a day.

Some council members raised questions about the shorter hours. "Wouldn’t it be prudent to have one of the units starting at 3 p.m. and going to 11 to give the p.m. watch guys some support as well?" Councilmember George Brietigam said. Brietigam also said, "It looks like it’s a simple, no-cost solution that we could be exploring here."

Councilmember Cindy Ngoc Tran also pointed to gaps in availability. "Sometimes when I called our team, they said we have to wait until the next day," Tran said. Timothy Throne, project manager for Garden Grove's economic development team, said, "Caller data showed that beyond 6 p.m., there weren’t that many calls to dispatch in regard to homeless-related calls or even crisis calls,"

The switch comes as Mind OC has sued the County of Orange, alleging breach of contract after county supervisors pulled Be Well contracts in 2024, according to Voice of OC. Councilmember Ariana Arestegui said, "That is something that is at the top of my mind: making sure that we are addressing the needs of the community as much as possible."

If Garden Grove continues the partnership beyond the first year, the annual contract with Healthcare In Action could fall to $1.2 million, Voice of OC reported.