Choosing Your MHSA to BHSA Transition Team
As your county prepares to develop an Integrated Plan for the 2026–2029 fiscal years to meet BHSA implementation requirements, complex changes in planning and reporting may seem daunting. One of the most impactful changes is that counties must now report on all behavioral health funding sources and services. These include local, state, and federally funded…
Supporting Native American Heritage and Indigenous Peoples’ Days
The members of RDA Consulting, SPC observed Native American Heritage Day last Friday, November 29 as we do each year. When I shared that with a colleague, they wondered about the difference between Native American Heritage Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This difference is simply and beautifully defined by Weyodi OldBear, a writer and self-described…
Juneteenth Recognition for Young Women’s Freedom Center Oakland
In the words of the National Museum of African American History & Culture, Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day. For the third year since Juneteenth became a federal holiday, RDA Consulting made a financial contribution to an Oakland-based organization nominated by our staff that works for Black independence and empowerment. This year, RDA Consulting…
Enhancing Equity in Pretrial Procedures: The Significance of Senate Bill 36 and Local Risk Assessment Validation
By Jennifer Lux, Senior Consultant, Penelope Fergison, Senior Consultant, and Carrie Coen, Associate Director, Justice INTRODUCTION In the current landscape of criminal justice reform, the spotlight is on ensuring fairness and equity during the pretrial phase of legal proceedings. At the forefront of this discussion is California’s Senate Bill 36 (SB 36), a groundbreaking piece…
Five Ways California’s Counties Can Prepare Now That Prop 1 Has Passed
by Amalia Freedman, CEO After two weeks of counting votes, California voters passed Proposition 1 by a hair. The proposition, a two-part initiative aimed at improving equitable access to behavioral health services, provides new funding for treatment facilities and housing support while updating the 20-year-old Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). Millions of Californians who cope…
Protecting, Connecting, and Thriving: We are all Public Health
By Courtney Chapple, Consulting Manager Happy National Public Health Week! From April 1 – 7, RDA joins the American Public Health Association (APHA) in recognizing and celebrating public health. As we celebrate National Public Health Week, we take a moment to look back at the partnerships that we have established and the project work that…
Participative Budgeting and Profit Sharing– An Update on RDA’s EOT
by John Cervetto, Chief Operating Officer As RDA Consulting begins 2024, we both mark one year since RDA transitioned from a privately-owned business to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) and forty years since the founding of RDA in 1984. Our first year as an employee-owned business has been defined by developing new processes and practices…
RDA Consulting at 40
2024 is a significant year for RDA Consulting. As we plan for the future, we also are reflecting back to our founding forty years ago in 1984 by Robert (Bob) Bennett. Then, as now, Bennett launched Resource Development Associates (as RDA was then known) with the intention of impacting systems and the communities that they…
World AIDS Day: Remember and Commit
by Courtney Davis, Consulting Manager Friday, December 1, 2023, marks the 35th annual World AIDS Day. Since the emergence of the HIV virus and the first official case reporting of AIDS in 1981, more than 35 million people have died from the disease globally. It’s estimated that some 38 million people are currently living with the…
Employee Ownership Month – An Update on RDA’s EOT
As Employee Ownership Month draws to a close, RDA Consulting is celebrating our 10th month as an employee-owned trust (EOT). We have set up a Board of Directors and a Trust Stewardship Committee, both made up primarily of employees. We have governance documents and decision matrices, and are working on our first strategic planning process…
RDA Supports Indigenous People’s Day
by Ken Lupoff, Associate Director of Business Development Since its adoption in Berkeley, California 31 years ago, the celebration of Indigenous People’s Day has spread across the United States, replacing or being held in conjunction with Columbus Day. Today, some 18 states and innumerable cities and towns celebrate Indigenous People’s Day on the first Monday…
Overcoming Barriers and Expanding Access to Behavioral Health Services
by Caroline Calonge, Consultant and Paulina Hatfield, Consultant Access to behavioral health services is becoming more difficult, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, but programs are working to increase access to services for those that need it most. Recently, RDA Consulting partnered with Merced County in evaluating the effectiveness of an innovative program that makes services…
A Step Forward for Child Welfare in California
by Aditi Das, PhD, Consulting Manager All too often, cases of child abuse are erroneously reported (according to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, 82% of cases reported and investigated are unsubstantiated) and families are separated when caregivers and other persons of authority – teachers, school nurses, police officers – see that children…
June 19 — the Birth of Juneteenth
by Ken Lupoff, Associate Director of Business Development This year’s Juneteenth federal holiday falls on June 19 – the date in 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger issued General Order 3 in Texas, enforcing President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which ended slavery and called for the freedom of Black people who had long been oppressed by…
“It’s our Fourth of July!” Celebrating Juneteenth When the Rest of the Country Catches Up…
by Charlene Y. Taylor, PhD, VP of Consulting Services Even though I grew up in Alaska, my family has very southern roots. I was born in Miami, Florida where both my parents were also born and raised. Being military, my family had friends from all over the country with varied backgrounds, so although I grew…