Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Louise F. Rogers, Chief, San Mateo County Health
Scott Gilman, Director, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services
Subject: Amendment to the Performance Agreement with the State Department of Health Care Services
RECOMMENDATION:
title
Adopt a resolution authorizing the Chief of San Mateo County Health to execute an amendment to the performance agreement with the State Department of Health Care Services, integrating the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant into the existing Behavioral Health and Recovery Services County Performance Contract, extending the term of Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant through June 30, 2021, with no change to the maximum amount.
body
BACKGROUND:
On November 12, 2019, your Board approved an agreement authorizing the Chief of San Mateo County Health to execute a performance agreement with the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), for mental health services, for the term of July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2021.
In previous years, DHCS administered Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG) funding through three-year contracts with each county. Because the county allocation amounts are based on the fluctuating SABG award amounts issued annually by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, annual adjustments to county allocations required a new SABG contract amendment in each year of the three-year cycle. Additional amendments were required for any shift or modification of funding to cover unique circumstances. In some cases, counties and DHCS have had to draft and execute multiple contract amendments per year in order to maintain the grant funding stream and cover expenses. This process is cumbersome and often results in lengthy funding delays.
The County Performance Contract (CPC) is required per Welfare and Institutions Code sections 5650, subd. (a), 5651, 5897, and California Code of Regulations Title 9, section 3310 to set forth conditions and requirements that counties must meet in order to receive funding for the Mental Health Services Act and Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, in addition to the following federal behavioral health grants: Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG), Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH), and Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP). Historically this was a one-year contract, but a statutory change in 2018 allows DHCS to issue the CPC as a three-year contract with an option to renew for two additional one-year terms.
DISCUSSION:
SABG is currently administered under a different contracting model from MHBG, PATH, and CCP, despite being governed by similar or identical federal statutes and regulations. SABG funding is currently tied to individual county contracts, whereas MHBG, PATH, and CCP funding is administered via supplemental application documents that are incorporated by reference through the CPC.
Currently, adjustments to SABG program specifications, funding, or budgets require a contract amendment, which is administratively burdensome and may take several months to complete. The MHBG, PATH, and CCP contract models do not require the need to formally amend the contract to adjust budgets or funding levels, which provides DHCS flexibility in responding to the needs of counties and their beneficiaries.
Aligning the federal behavioral health grants into the existing CPC simplifies and streamlines county administration of the SABG, MHBG, PATH, and CCP grants.
DHCS has requested that upon expiration of the current three-year SABG contract on June 30, 2020, SABG be integrated into the existing CPC, which runs through June 30, 2021. As with MHBG, counties will submit annual SABG applications that consist of enclosures detailing various rules, regulations, and county requirements, in addition to program narratives and budgets.
The agreement and resolution have been reviewed and approved by County Counsel as to form.
It is anticipated that the client and service reporting information error rate will be 0.01%.
PERFORMANCE MEASURE:
|
Measure |
FY 2019-20 Actual |
FY 2020-21 Projected |
|
Client and services reporting information error rate |
0.01% 5,400 out of 540,000 records |
0.01% 5,400 out of 540,000 records |
FISCAL IMPACT:
The term of the agreement is July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2021. This agreement does not allocate funds for these programs; funding allocations are instead contained in separate agreements with DHCS. Should State funding for any of these programs be discontinued, the County will not be obligated to meet the performance goals for the affected programs. No Net County Cost is associated with this agreement.