At Concepts Forward, we specialize in transforming your ideas into successful realities.

Our mission is to bridge the gap between new initiatives and their effective rollout through expert change management and evaluation services. We partner with organizations to turn initiatives, innovations, and best practices into actionable steps, ensuring your projects achieve their desired impact and outcomes.

Our Services

Our comprehensive services are designed to bring about tangible results.

Behavioral Health
Program Development

From initial concept to full implementation, we help build effective and sustainable behavioral health programs.

Digital Transformation

Identifying ways to enhance and utilize current electronic approaches, improve applications, or create digital systems to improve outcomes.

Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System

This is a full-service approach, from applying for the waiver through implementation to evaluation and outcomes.

Evaluation

Data-driven evaluation to impact fiscal reliability, sustainability, and proven outcomes for programming success.

Innovations Efforts

Leading innovative projects and targeted efforts to promote mental health.

Law Enforcement and Community Relationships

Strengthening ties between law enforcement and communities through strategic initiatives and training, including supporting CIT programs to enhance crisis response and mental health intervention.

Legislative Advocacy

Enhancing change through legislative initiatives.

Needs Assessments and Strategic Planning

Internal planning and improvement, partnering with the community and stakeholders, cross-department collaborations and alignment of strategies.

Stakeholder Engagement

Creating conversations and partnerships across your stakeholder population, providing surveys or holding focus groups.

By choosing Concepts Forward, you are not just partnering with a team but with a group of dedicated professionals who are committed to ensuring your initiatives are successfully launched and sustainably impactful. Let us help you turn your vision into reality.

Our Expertise

Our team is skilled in access, timeliness and quality of behavioral health plans, systemwide outcomes and evaluation, and communitywide needs assessment and population health partnerships.

We have a deep understanding of key areas, including:

  • Cal AIM and Medi-Cal-funded programming
and evaluation
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA)
  • Proposition 1 (CA)
  • Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System
  • Annual and Triennial system-wide evaluation reporting
  • Data and outcome-driven measurements
  • TAY (transitional-age youth, ages 16-25)
  • Law Enforcement Crisis Intervention Team (CIT)
  • Veterans services
  • Community-wide Needs Assessments
  • Stakeholder engagement
  • Cross-agency collaboration
  • Multi-year Strategic Planning
  • Digital transformation
  • Multi-County collaboration and programming
  • Psychiatric Advance Directives
  • Suicide Prevention Efforts
  • Legislative Advocacy

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

Meet the team at the following events:

About Us

Headshot of Kiran Sahota

Kiran Sahota, MA, President

With nearly three decades of experience in social services, Kiran Sahota has transformed community behavioral health through innovative programs, law enforcement training, and digital solutions to tackle complex challenges and drive systemic change.

After retiring as a Senior Behavioral Health Manager in 2020, she founded Concepts Forward Consulting, focusing on strategic planning and quality review projects, including the California statewide initiatives of CalAIM, the Behavioral Health Services Act, and electronic Psychiatric Advance Directives.

More about Kiran
Headshot of Kiran Sahota

Jared Mayhue, Project Coordinator

Jared Mayhue is dedicated to transforming the behavioral healthcare system. Combining his academic background in sociology with practical experience, he focuses on addressing systemic flaws and inequalities. Through collaboration with stakeholders and communities, Jared champions innovative strategies for holistic and equitable care. A priority focus is working with Transitional-Age Youth (TAY), highlighting this often-overlooked demographic. A Certified Peer Support Specialist driven by empathy and research, Jared advocates for a future where behavioral health support is accessible and reflective of diverse needs.

Headshot of Kiran Sahota

Michael Rompal, Training Manager – First Responders

Michael Rompal is a retired Sergeant with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, where he served for 26 years in various capacities. Throughout his career, he held multiple supervisory and training roles, gaining extensive experience in crisis management and intervention. As the Administrative Sergeant at the department's largest substation, Michael became the Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) Coordinator, overseeing the program’s implementation and leading efforts to enhance the department’s handling of mental health crises. In addition to his law enforcement career, Michael is an adjunct professor in the Administration of Criminal Justice Program at Ventura Community College, where he shares his knowledge with aspiring criminal justice professionals. As the first responder training manager for Concepts Forward Consulting and CIT Certified, he specializes in training and program development and Psychiatric Advance Directives (PADs) tools to help first responders navigate and de-escalate mental health situations. Committed to improving the relationship between law enforcement and the mental health community, Michael believes that trust and transparent communication are the foundation of effective crisis intervention.

Contact

Kiran Sahota, MA, President
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