Jul 6, 2026
For nearly 70 years, Palomar Family Counseling Service has been a steady source of support for families across North San Diego County.
From its offices in Escondido, Vista, and Fallbrook, and through partnerships with more than 40 local schools, PFCS has provided counseling, prevention and early intervention services, family support, and other behavioral health programs to thousands of people each year. For many families, the organization has been more than a service provider. It has been a trusted place to turn during some of life's most difficult moments.
But in early 2025, PFCS was facing a challenging moment of its own.
A major shift in the County of San Diego’s funding model created significant financial pressure for PFCS and other providers. Under the previous cost-reimbursement structure, the organization could recover a larger portion of its actual expenses — including the time spent on essential activities like care coordination, documentation, supervision, and program management.
However, under the County’s new billing model, PFCS was paid primarily based on direct client service hours. Many of the critical activities that support quality care could no longer be billed. As a result, the organization was incurring real costs that were no longer covered by the funding it received. This created a structural gap between the true cost of delivering services and the revenue available to support them.
Leadership and the board recognized that this was not just a short-term cash flow issue. They needed to take a clear-eyed look at what it would take for PFCS to remain sustainable and continue serving the community under the new funding reality.
This included bringing in an outside perspective, in the form of a pro bono consulting team from Amplified Impact Partners.
Amplified's team — Partners Tom Watlington, Olivia Bloom, and Yona Capobianco — began working with PFCS in January 2025, taking on the engagement off-cycle to respond quickly to the situation. Executive Director Lisa Turner wanted to bring in outside expertise early, while there was still time to fully evaluate PFCS's options. The team came alongside Lisa and her leadership to assess the situation, strengthen operations, and evaluate the path forward.
The team got to work quickly, taking a close look at PFCS's contracts, expenses, cash flow, and service model.
They worked alongside leadership as the organization made proactive decisions to manage costs and strengthen its financial position, weighing whether certain contracts could be renegotiated, whether underused assets could be leveraged, and how the organization's model could best perform under the new funding structure.
One important step was the strategic decision to sell a building that was no longer heavily used. That one-time capital infusion strengthened PFCS's financial position and created room to plan thoughtfully for the future. Amplified's work also went beyond financial planning in the moment — the team worked with PFCS to build better financial reporting tools, so leadership could more clearly see where things stood, track performance, and look ahead with greater confidence.
At the same time, the engagement prompted a deeper conversation about the future.
What would the strongest path forward look like under the new funding model? What services could be strengthened? What would it take to protect the organization's mission, staff, and clients over the long term — and could that be achieved independently, or would a different structure serve the mission even better?
Those were not easy questions. But they were the right ones to ask.
As the work continued, Amplified supported PFCS through one of its first Flex Team engagements — a model designed to provide targeted, responsive support when a nonprofit is facing a time-sensitive challenge or opportunity. Tom and Olivia continued working with Lisa to strengthen the organization's financial position, evaluate possible paths forward, and offer steady counsel as new options emerged.
One of those options was a potential merger.
Merger isn't always what people assume. In the right circumstances, it can be a proactive, strategic path to strengthen services, protect staff, reduce administrative strain, and put a mission on stronger, more sustainable footing — and that became the heart of the next phase of work.
When PFCS began exploring a possible partnership with TrueCare, another North County-based healthcare provider, Amplified worked with Lisa to think through what it could mean. The PFCS board ultimately decided to pursue the opportunity more formally and brought in outside merger and acquisition expertise to support the process. Tom and Olivia remained in touch with Lisa as a trusted sounding board, offering perspective on financial analysis, board governance, and the broader strategic implications of the decision.
Their role was not to make the decision for PFCS. It was to help leadership and the board ask the right questions, understand the stakes, and move forward with clarity.
“Working with Amplified Impact Partners gave us important perspective and structure as we navigated complex decisions about the future of PFCS,” Lisa said of the engagement. “Their team brought clarity and thoughtful counsel at a critical time, helping us explore options that would allow our mission and services to continue in a stronger, more sustainable way.”
That groundwork helped lead to a successful outcome.
In June 2026, TrueCare and Palomar Family Counseling Service announced plans to merge operations, effective September 1, 2026. Through the merger, PFCS services in Escondido, Vista, and Fallbrook will continue without interruption, as will the programs and care provided in local schools. Prevention and early intervention services, counseling, school partnerships, and support programs such as Dinosaur School will remain in place and be strengthened through the new partnership.
Together, the combined organization is expected to serve 80,000 people annually, expanding access to primary care, dental care, behavioral health, pediatric care, WIC, and other essential services across North San Diego County and surrounding communities.
Most importantly, the merger means PFCS's vital behavioral health services will continue.
For Amplified, this engagement is a powerful example of what nonprofit capacity building can make possible. Sometimes impact looks like growth. Sometimes it looks like a new strategic plan, a stronger board, or a more effective fundraising model. And sometimes, impact means helping an organization plan ahead with clarity, so its mission can keep thriving for decades to come.
This wasn't a simple success story. It was a story of careful planning, hard strategic choices, and courageous leadership.
It was also a story of what can happen when nonprofit leaders do not have to navigate those crossroads alone.
Lisa Turner and the PFCS board acted with urgency, openness, and deep commitment to the families who depend on their services. Amplified's team brought the additional experience needed to support that leadership at a pivotal time, and that combination mattered.
Because of the steps PFCS took, thousands of children, families, and individuals across North County will continue to have access to behavioral health care. Staff will carry on with their work. School partnerships will stay intact. And a nearly 70-year legacy of service will move forward as part of a broader whole-person care model.
For nonprofits across the region, PFCS's story also offers an important reminder: merger can be a proactive, mission-centered strategy — not just a last-resort response to hardship — for sustaining services, strengthening infrastructure, and making sure the community continues to be served.