Government projects rarely unfold exactly as planned. Funding shifts, capacity varies, and data and operations are often messier than expected. For consultants and public partners, success depends less on sticking rigidly to scope and more on practicing adaptive facilitation—the art of adjusting scope, style, and role to meet clients where they are, while still delivering impact.

At Third Sector, we’ve seen this play out across projects of every size and context. Whether stepping back to address foundational capacity issues, loosening rigid processes to prioritize authentic presence, or designing tools that account

Many people who have had contact with the criminal-legal system are also struggling with behavioral health challenges. Approximately 80% of people incarcerated in California have a substance use disorder, and 36% are living with a mental illness (CCJBH 2023 Annual Report). Yet among those released, behavioral health service utilization remains low. This gap points to the urgent need for coordinated, integrated care between the behavioral health and criminal-legal systems.

From December 2024 to April 2025, Third Sector collaborated with the California Council on Criminal Justice and Behavioral Health (CCJBH) to form