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The former clinical director of a San Mateo County mental and behavioral health nonprofit who embezzled $700,000 has pleaded no contest to three felonies in a plea deal that caps her potential prison sentence at three years and four months, prosecutors said.
Foster City resident Clarise Blanchard, 79, stole $700,000 over 13 years from nonprofit StarVista, which closed last year amid financial difficulties. According to prosecutors, Blanchard routed StarVista donations into her personal bank account and sent forged thank-you notes to contributors. The theft was only discovered after a family foundation reached out to StarVista after Blanchard retired and inquired about its $50,000 donation.
StarVista then launched an audit and found that Blanchard had siphoned $700,000 from the nonprofit. Blanchard was arrested in December 2023 and eventually charged with six felonies and three enhancements.
In October 2025, prosecutors reached a deal with Blanchard. She agreed to plead no contest to felony counts of identity theft, money laundering and failure to file income tax returns and in return, the rest of the charges were dropped.
Blanchard was set to be sentenced on Jan. 21, but that’s been delayed until April at the request of prosecutors and her defense, who filed a joint motion to continue the case while negotiations over the amount of restitution continue.
Following several years of deficits, StarVista announced it would shutter operations on Aug. 1, 2025 after negotiations for a merger and county assistance failed. StarVista offered mental health and crisis support services for people in San Mateo County for nearly 60 years. At its peak, StarVista had over 200 employees and served over 38,000 people annually. It also operated crisis response teams that worked with eight local police departments.
While StarVista did not directly fault Blanchard’s embezzlement, it cited “ongoing financial difficulties” for its closure.
Before retiring from StarVista in 2022, Blanchard was paid an annual salary of more than $140,000. In 2008, the San Mateo County Commission on the Status of Women gave Blanchard its health and social justice Woman of the Year award for helping women with substance abuse and mental health issues.
A non-profit with poor oversight committed fraud? I am so shocked – lol. Seems it was only discovered because a donor wondering where their money was spent.
Too bad Newsom veto’d the bill that would have upped the accountability for the billions of dollars spend by Government sponsored non-profits. Guess he doesn’t want California to upstage Minnesota for the most fraudulent state spending.
This lady made $140k a year, plus, all department directors made over 100k a year too. While the staff working directly with families could barely afford to live in San Mateo County. StarVista is also being sued by a former employee for missed wages. This so called mental health institution had a gross toxic culture that came directly from department directors. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of former employees have PTSD due to the chronic stress suffered at StarVista. Last but not least, HIPPA violations.