The Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) formerly known as the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Youth and Family Services Bureau, was established in 2004.  BHU is a team of Licensed Therapists and Registered Associate Therapists who work for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office providing clinical and support services for Alameda County residents. 

Mission

The mission of ACSO’s Community Oriented Response and Engagement (CORE) Behavioral Health Unit (BHU) is to inspire healthier communities by providing culturally competent, strength based, trauma informed behavioral health services to maximize resilience, recovery, and wellness.   

Vision 

The vision of ACSO’s CORE Behavioral Health Unit is that all communities can successfully reach their potential and goals by accessing mental health and substance abuse treatment without barriers, stigma, or discrimination. 

Core Values

The core values of ACSO are to serve the community with respect, service, trust, and engage with people we serve to foster social connection.    

In addition to ACSO’s core values, the following are CORE’s Behavioral Health Unit core values:

• Cultural Competence – We honor and celebrate the ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity of our consumers.  We value our consumer’s voices, life experiences, and strengths and we establish and adjust our practices and service delivery model based in part on our consumer’s perspectives and experiences.     
  
• Best Practices – We honor and integrate best practices and Evidence-Based Practices into our service delivery model for clinical effectiveness and to strive for best outcomes. 

• Accessibility – We honor the availability of mental health and substance abuse services to all communities and strive to reduce barriers to accessing services for all consumers.

• Family Engagement – We honor family and community systems and value the inclusion of family members and community partners to assist our consumers with reaching their potential and maximizing their success.  

• Strength Based – We believe and trust in the self-determination and strengths of our consumers in the face of adversity and honor their resourcefulness and resiliency.  

• Trauma Informed – We recognize the symptoms and impact of trauma on those we serve and integrate this knowledge into our service delivery model which focuses on resiliency, recovery and avoiding re-traumatization.  

Core Competencies

The following are the core competencies of the CORE Behavioral Health Unit:  
• Utilize culturally competent skills for engagement with consumers and community members. 
• Utilize Strength Based interventions.
• Utilize Family Engagement interventions. 
• Utilize Behavioral Health interventions based on Best Practices and Evidence-Based Practices
   with our targeted populations.  
• Apply Crisis Intervention principles and techniques.
• Utilize De-escalation techniques.
• Utilize Risk-Needs-Responsivity Principles.
• Apply Data Driven Decision making. 
• Provide linkage and referrals to appropriate services based on needs and risks.