Behavioral Health Board
The Behavioral Health Board of the County of Santa Clara is composed of members of the community at large, clients and family members of clients of the behavioral health system. The board’s mission and duties are established in the Welfare & Institutions Code 5604.2 and county law (see Chapter VII, Sections A18 – 141 and A18 - 142). The duties include: review and evaluation of the community’s behavioral health needs, facilities and special problems; advising the Board of Supervisors and the County behavioral health director as to any aspect of the County behavioral health program; and, submitting an annual report to the Board of Supervisors on the needs and performance of the County’s Behavioral Health System.
The County of Santa Clara Behavioral Health Board will host the 13th Annual Behavioral Health Community Heroes Awards on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, where the awardees will be honored. This year’s theme is Hope and Healing.
2024 Board Members
The Behavioral Health Board is comprised of 16 members; 9 constitutes a quorum.
BHB Officers: Anne Baumgarten, Chair | Richard Loftus, First Vice Chair | Patricia Andrade, Second Vice Chair
BHB Members: Frank Alioto, Patricia Andrade, Anne Baumgarten, Mary Crocker Cook, David Cortright, Candace DeCou, Thomas Jurgensen, June Klein, Richard Loftus, Gary Miles, Marianna Moles, Sigrid Pinsky, David Tran, Alexandros Tsobanoudis, Supervisor Sylvia Arenas (BOS Delegate).
Please note that all meetings will be held at 1075 East Santa Clara Street, 2nd Floor, San Jose. The meeting room will be noted on each agenda.
Our board members
Anne Baumgarten
Anne has been a consumer of mental health services since 1978. She had a severe injury in 1971 and as a result had a psychological crisis. She is also the parent of a son who was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder 1 in 2004 at the age of 19.
Richard Loftus
Judge Superior Court Santa Clara County, CA 1998-2016
Sitting on Assignment 2016-2019
Served in Criminal, Civil, Family, Juvenile (first juvenile mental health court in the US) and Drug/Mental Health (including IST and Mentally Ill) courts
Alexandros Tsobanoudis
Alex is a recent graduate from the University of Washington, where he received his B.S. in Neuroscience and Biochemistry, and minored in bioethics.
Candice DeCou
Candace brings both lived experience as a family member and consumer to the Behavioral Health Board. She is a single mother of two children, both of whom have experienced addiction.
David Cortright
Dave has lived experience with chronic anxiety and depression. He is a certified professional coach (New Ventures West), a trained crisis counselor (Crisis Text Line), a peer mentor (NAMI), and a compassionate listener (7 Cups).
David Tran
David is a San José native with robust experience in community and non-profit development in San Jose and Washington DC.
Frank Alioto
Frank Alioto has been a resident of Santa Clara County’s District 5 (Los Gatos) for over 35 years. He left a career in broadcasting and broadcast related businesses to move to the Silicon Valley from Boston to join ADDA Corporation, one of the Valley’s seminal digital video start ups.
June Klein
Dr. June Rumiko Klein has held executive leadership positions in higher
education and high tech for almost three decades.
Marianna Moles
Marianna Moles currently serves as Communications Officer for the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department.
Mary Crocker Cook
Mary joined Behavioral Health Board as both a consumer and professional, with a passion for co-occurring disorders.
Patti Andrade
Patti Andrade has been a lifelong resident of the Bay Area and is married with 3 children. She graduated from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA with her Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and Political Science.
Sigrid Pinsky
Professionally, Sigrid has sixteen years of experience in law firm administration, including positions as Legal Assistant Administrator.
Supervisor Sylvia Arenas
The District 1 staff and I are dedicated to addressing the concerns of and improving our District 1 community and the County of Santa Clara. Please do not hesitate to contact me at (408) 299-5010 or [email protected] if I or my staff can ever be of assistance. We are committed to helping you in any way we can.
Thomas Jurgensen
Tom graduated with great distinction from SJSU with a B.A. in Psychology
and a Minor in Anthropology. He has a Mental Health Rehabilitation
Specialist (MHRS) certification. He has worked as a Group Home
Counselor, Resident Assistant, Case Manager, Club Facilitator,
Community Trainer, Community Friend, NAMI Peer Pal, and NAMI Mentor.
Tom was a founding member of Rise Above Stigma and Momentum’s
Consumer Advisory Board. He was a founding member of the Office of
Client Empowerment (now Office of Consumer Affairs). Tom was a guest on
More Than Meets the Eye, a community TV program in Redwood City. Tom
was a Junior League Silver Bowl recipient. He has been recognized by SCC
Board of Supervisors for contributions to the community.
As a Community Trainer for many years, Tom worked with graduate
students to provide a Client perspective on issues related to their future
careers. Tom has spoken extensively about the experience of being a
Mental Health Client and about the challenges and insights of providing
services while contending with mental health issues. Tom was involved
with planning and implementing two client-organized conferences and was
involved with the founding of Zephyr and Phoenix Self-Help centers. Tom
was also a CIT panelist for many of the early CIT Trainings.
Tom enjoys writing poetry and composing songs. He currently works as a
Mentor for NAMI’s Mentors on Discharge program. Tom has extensive
lived experience as a Mental Health Client and as a Family Member.
List of committees
The Behavioral Health Board updated their standing committees with the latest bylaws revision approved by the Board of Supervisors. The current standing committees of the Behavioral Health Board are listed below.
The purpose of the Joint Committee is to improve access and recovery outcomes for County behavioral health services.
The purpose of the Cultural Competency Advisory Committee is to advocate for the service needs of diverse community groups by studying the cultural attributes that affect our ability to reach and service our citizens supported by the Behavioral Health Services Department, and recommend improvements to programs and services to achieve better outcomes in all communities.
The Executive committee is made up of three officers of the BHB and the chairs (or co-chairs if the standing committee chair is a BHB officer) of each of the four standing committees.
- The BHB- Executive shall set the time and location of meetings.
- The BHB- Executive Committee shall prepare the annual report and work plan by March 1 for submission to the BHB.
- The Executive Committee shall review standing committees and their duties.
- The standing committee with the most relevant expertise shall evaluate any issue that, in the opinion of a member of the Executive Committee, may be of controversial nature and/or would benefit from a preliminary review by the committee. If no standing committee has directly relevant expertise, the issue shall be evaluated by the Executive Committee.
The purpose of this committee is to assess, recommend, and support the fiscal affairs and condition of the County Behavioral Health Services Department; examine financial and programmatic aspects of programs and services in the continuum of care; and assess potential partnerships and associations between public and private sector organizations and programs.
Documents
Annual Reports
Behavioral Health Board
The County of Santa Clara Behavioral Health Board (BHB) does not have open seats at this time, however, interested individuals are encouraged to apply. Your application will remain on file for 2 years from the date of submission.
If you are interested in serving, please review the Behavioral Health Board Bylaws document and visit the Clerk of the Board website to apply.
If you have questions relating to membership and the appointment process, please contact the Behavioral Health Board Liaison Team at [email protected]
Community heroes awards
The County of Santa Clara Behavioral Health Board will host the 13th Annual Behavioral Health Community Heroes Awards on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, where the awardees will be honored. This year’s theme is Hope and Healing.
We have reached capacity for in-person attendance; however, registration is still open for virtual attendance.
We encourage you to take part in this wonderful opportunity to honor the heroes in our community.