Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Michael P. Callagy, County Manager
Peggy Jensen, Deputy County Manager
Louise F. Rogers, Chief, San Mateo County Health
Lisa Mancini, Director, Aging and Adult Services
Subject: Addressing Food Insecurity for Older Adults in San Mateo County After the End of the Great Plates Delivered Program
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing the Chief of San Mateo County Health or the Chief’s designee to execute agreements with current Older Americans Act program contractors to address the ongoing nutritional needs of older adults in San Mateo County during or for the term July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2023 for a total amount not to exceed $3,900,000.
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BACKGROUND:
On April 24, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the launch of the Great Plates Delivered (GPD) program, a prepared meals delivery service. For the last year, the GPD program has helped seniors and other adults at high risk of COVID-19 stay home and stay healthy by delivering three nutritious meals a day to their homes. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which authorized and fully funded the GPD program, has announced that funding will end on July 9, 2021. As of June 6, 2021, San Mateo County had served 4,683 older adults with 2.6 million meals through 84 local meal providers at a total cost of $58,000,000.
The Center on Budget Policy Priorities, using real-time data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, has reported high rates of economic hardship, including increased food insecurity that have resulted from the unprecedented health and economic crisis of COVID-19. When GPD ends, an estimated 1,200 San Mateo County older adults currently served by the program and who have suffered negative economic impact due to the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to have unmet nutritional needs. Approximately 700 clients will need grocery deliveries and approximately 500 clients will continue to need prepared home delivered meals. These clients are functionally homebound and cannot access alternative nutritional support networks. Based on the survey results, the remainder of the current GPD clients will be able to rely on family or other supports to meet their nutritional needs. These estimates are based on over 1,400 paper survey responses and over 650 phone surveys of GPD clients.
DISCUSSION:
To address the nutritional needs of County older adults when the GPD program ends, staff proposes a two-year pilot program through Aging and Adult Services (AAS) and the Office of Sustainability to: 1) initiate a grocery delivery program in partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank; and 2) expand the County’s existing Home Delivered Meals program. The grocery delivery program, in partnership with Second Harvest, will be presented to the Board in the near future. The total cost of the post-GPD home delivered meal services portion of the pilot program will be approximately $3,900,000 for the two fiscal years.
For clients who cannot cook or prepare their own food, the current Older Americans Act (OAA) program contractors can expand their capacity, with assistance from one County adult day care and transportation contractor, to serve an additional 500 GPD clients with one meal per day, five days a week, for an estimated annual cost of $1,950,000, which is approximately $15 per home delivered meal. A County nutritionist will review the menus to ensure that they meet nutritional guidelines for older adults.
There is a related item on today’s agenda to approve funding for the County’s existing Home Delivered Meals program and additional community-based services for older adults. These providers currently serve 904 clients in their homes and provide “grab-and-go” takeout meals to an additional 479 clients.
County staff are recommending a waiver of the Request for Proposals process for acquisition of these services pursuant to Section 2.83.050(e) of the San Mateo County Ordinance Code, due to the fact that the Home Delivered Meals program is an expansion of ongoing services provided by the County’s OAA funds’ contractors and the need for these services is urgent to maintain the health of vulnerable older adults in the County who will find themselves without food at the end of the GPD program.
The five Home Delivered Meals providers meeting the needs of these 500 GPD clients will be four County Nutrition Program providers: City of Daly City, Peninsula Volunteers Inc., Self Help for the Elderly and Senior Coastsiders, and the City of South San Francisco, with which the County currently contracts for adult day care and transportation services with OAA funds.
The resolution has been reviewed and approved by County Counsel as to form, and all agreements will be approved by County Counsel as to form.
It is anticipated that 500 clients per year will be served by the proposed Home Delivered Meals program expansion.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
Measure |
FY 2021-22 Estimated |
FY 2022-23 Projected |
|
Number of clients served by the proposed Home Delivered Meals program expansion |
500 clients |
500 clients |
FISCAL IMPACT:
The funding term of these services will be July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2023. The total amount of the agreements is not to exceed $3,900,000 for the two-year term. Funding for these services will come from the American Rescue Plan’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. These services will be included in the Non-Departmental FY 2021-22 Adopted Budget in the amount of $1,950,000 and in the FY 2022-23 Recommended Budget in the amount of $1,950,000. There is no Net County Cost associated with the approval of this initiative.