Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Colleen Chawla, Chief, San Mateo County Health
Jei Africa, Director, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services
Subject: Agreement with Caminar, Inc. for Housing and Housing-Related Mental Health Services
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing an agreement with Caminar, Inc. for housing and housing-related mental health services, for the term of June 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027, in an amount not to exceed $15,290,396.
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BACKGROUND:
Since 1964, the nonprofit organization Caminar, Inc. (Caminar) has provided community-based services to individuals with serious mental illnesses. Caminar’s programs focus on maximizing wellness and recovery opportunities for adults with mental, physical, and developmental disabilities. Caminar provides residential care, transitional and permanent supported housing, supported education and supported employment, individual support services, and life skills training.
DISCUSSION:
Caminar will continue to provide the following: 1) transitional residential treatment; 2) supported housing services (including housing rental subsidies and client transportation costs); 3) case management; 4) rehabilitation services (including supported education, supported employment, and enhanced supported education services for Transition Age Youth). Additional services to be provided are the administration of the San Mateo Contractors’ Association grant funding and the management of client transportation needs in all contractor-sponsored programs. All of these programs and provided services support clients in obtaining and maintaining housing. There were 305 clients served in FY 2023-24 by the programs in this agreement.
Residential treatment programs like Caminar have established expertise in serving clients with a serious mental illness with co-occurring disorders. There continues to be a shortage of facilities in San Mateo County that specialize in transitional residential services for clients with serious mental illness with co-occurring disorders. These Housing Services and Related Supports are exempt from the competitive procurement process under the Administrative Memorandum B-1.
The resolution contains the County’s standard provisions allowing amendment of the County’s fiscal obligations by a maximum of $25,000 (in aggregate).
The agreement and resolution have been reviewed and approved by the County Attorney as to form.
It is anticipated that 95% of clients who receive services will be maintained at a current or lower level of care..
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
Measure |
FY 2023-24 Actual |
FY 2024-25 Estimated |
|
Percentage of clients who receive services that are maintained at a current or lower level of care |
83% 254/305 clients |
95% 289/305 clients |
COMMUNITY IMPACT:
This contract will positively impact a critically underserved community of behavioral health clients who have severe mental illnesses and substance use disorders and who would benefit from transitional residential treatment, outpatient services, and rehabilitative services. Providers such as Caminar are a vital resource for such individuals, as they have expertise in providing residential treatment as well as outpatient services and have extensive experience in supporting unhoused populations and helping clients continue to be housed. Having this contract with Caminar is instrumental in connecting clients to the critical services they need, as well as providing support and direct assistance to safely keep them from higher-cost services such as the emergency room or other costly residential placements. This provider is committed to serving this population and supporting them with achieving their recovery goals.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The term of the agreement is June 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027. The amount of the agreement is not to exceed $15,290,396 for the 25-month term. Funds in the amount of $7,239,642 are included in the FY 2025-26 Recommended Budget. Similar arrangements will be made for the future years.
BHRS is changing the methodology used to pay contracted providers that are currently paid on a 1/12th, monthly advance. Specifically, BHRS is changing the payment methodology for most contracts to fee-for-service and payments will be made in arrears. Additionally, in previous fiscal years, BHRS was granted an exception to pay providers during the accounting “blackout period” in July and August. This exception will no longer be available.
To facilitate these changes, BHRS has agreed to one three-month pre-pay for July-September of FY 2025-26 to qualifying providers. This payment will be reconciled in November. This payment must be made in June 2025. However, to make this payment, an ATR is needed. One ATR for all the impacted contracts will be submitted on the May 20, 2025 Board agenda. There will be no pre-pays in subsequent fiscal years.