Sacramento County Behavioral Health Services Training and Technical Assistance Equity Work
CIBHS partners with Sacramento County Behavioral Health Services (BHS) to advance equity-centered, culturally responsive practices across the county’s behavioral health system. Since 2020, this work has supported both county staff and the provider network through training, collaborative learning, and data-informed equity strategies.
Project Start/End Dates: 2020-ongoing
Geographical Area(s) of Focus: Sacramento County
Funder: Sacramento County Behavioral Health Services
Team Members: Jennifer Clancy, David Salinas, Sarah Hadden, Karen Kaur, Kelly Lawrence
Project Overview
CIBHS partners with Sacramento County Behavioral Health Services (BHS) to advance equity-centered, culturally responsive practices across the county’s behavioral health system. Beginning in August 2020 and ongoing, this work supports both county staff and the provider network through training, collaborative learning, and data-informed equity strategies that strengthen systems, elevate community voice, and promote equitable behavioral health outcomes.
Why This Work Matters
Sacramento County continues to address behavioral health disparities that disproportionately impact communities of color and other historically marginalized populations. Meeting state cultural competence requirements and advancing meaningful equity outcomes requires coordinated training, community-informed program adaptation, and robust evaluation tools that move beyond compliance toward measurable systems change.
How This Work Is Done
Funded by Sacramento County Behavioral Health Services, CIBHS employs a multi-pronged approach that integrates workforce development, racial equity learning collaboratives, and evaluation and data analysis support. Together, these strategies strengthen provider capacity, center lived experience, support continuous quality improvement, and help translate equity commitments into practice across the county behavioral health system.
What This Work Delivers
Training & Workforce Development
CIBHS partners with Sacramento County Behavioral Health Services (BHS) to design and deliver trainings that advance behavioral health equity and strengthen capacity across BHS programs. This work includes state-required annual cultural competency trainings. Topics have focused on cultural humility, disability and behavioral health, and compliance with Senate Bill 923, which requires education on serving transgender, gender diverse, and intersex (TGI) communities. CIBHS also works to support trainings for interpreters supporting service delivery staff, and specialized trainings for the Sacramento County Mental Health Board.
Behavioral Health Racial Equity Collaborative (BHREC)
Launched in 2020, the Behavioral Health Racial Equity Collaborative was developed in partnership with Sacramento County Behavioral Health Services to address systemic racism and implicit bias impacting behavioral health outcomes for Black, African American, and African descent communities. Through research, focus groups, key informant interviews, and staff engagement, the BHREC identified workforce equity, community engagement, and access to care as core priorities. Working alongside eight local organizations, CIBHS supported the development and implementation of Behavioral Health Racial Equity Action Plans through training, tools, and technical assistance, with ongoing collaboration with county leadership to guide implementation and systems change.
Building on this foundation, CIBHS and Sacramento County are currently providing a six-session virtual Latinx Behavioral Health Racial Equity Learning Collaborative that brings together county leadership, provider organizations, community-based Latinx advocates, and data analysts. Using a quality improvement framework, participants co-design program adaptations to improve access, utilization, and outcomes for Latinx/Hispanic communities through expert-led equity-focused training and technical assistance, peer-to-peer strategy sharing, and structured co-production workshops grounded in lived experience and community priorities.
Evaluation & Data Analysis Support
CIBHS provides comprehensive evaluation and data analysis support across the full line of work together. This work includes designing, tracking, and analyzing equity-focused outcomes; developing Racial Equity Action Plans informed by community engagement, focus groups, surveys, and disaggregated data; and monitoring progress toward reducing behavioral health inequities across Sacramento County.
In addition, CIBHS evaluates required cultural competency trainings to assess provider knowledge, skill development, and areas for growth. Findings are used to inform continuous improvement and guide the design of future trainings, ensuring workforce development efforts are responsive, effective, and aligned with evolving equity priorities.