REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 22, 2021
FROM
VERONICA KELLEY, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Standard Agreement Template for Children’s Residential Intensive Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve the standard agreement template for ongoing Children’s Residential Intensive Services, to be utilized with the 28 qualified agencies identified in the Procurement section, in an aggregate amount not to exceed $53,000,000, for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026.
2. Authorize the Assistant Executive Officer of Human Services, the Deputy Executive Officer of Human Services, or the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health to execute the standard agreement template with the individual Children’s Residential Intensive Services providers, and make any non-substantive changes on behalf of the County, subject to review by County Counsel.
(Presenter: Veronica Kelley, Director, 388-0801)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The standard agreement template for Children’s Residential Intensive Services (ChRIS) will be utilized to provide services in a total aggregate amount of $53,000,000 that is funded by Medi-Cal Federal Financial Participation, Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), 2011 Realignment, 1991 Realignment, and a Memorandum of Understanding with Children and Family Services (CFS). Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2021-22 budget, and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The ChRIS program is a structured residential program providing specialty mental health services to children/youth, who are San Bernardino County Medi-Cal beneficiaries and who are placed into group homes or Short Term Residential Therapeutic Program (STRTPs). Services are available to eligible children/youth during the period of placement and up to two months after the children/youth have left the group home in order to facilitate a successful transition to a lower level of care. The recommended action will allow DBH to utilize a standard agreement template for this service in order to maintain a pool of qualified contract providers for these necessary services. DBH will execute individual agreements with the 28 agencies identified in the Procurement section below. In 2021-22, DBH anticipates that qualified providers for ChRIS will serve approximately 600 children/youth annually at an estimated average cost of $17,666 per child/youth.
DBH is responsible for providing mental health and/or substance use disorder services to San Bernardino County residents who are experiencing major mental illness and/or a substance use disorder. An integral part of the service delivery system consists of County operated and contracted service providers delivering a variety of mental health treatment services, including specialized services for children/youth that reside in group homes or are at risk of being placed in a group home.
The ChRIS program allows children/youth, who are CFS Dependents and/or Probation Wards and placed in STRTPs, to receive the specialty mental health services they require. These facilities provide short-term, specialized and intensive mental health treatment services and 24-hour care and supervision. ChRIS providers must meet strict licensing, accreditation, qualification, and program requirements in order to be part of DBH’s qualified provider pool of contractors.
PROCUREMENT
On April 30, 2021, the County Administrative Office approved and authorized the release of a Request for Qualification (RFQ), RFQ DBH #20-98, ePro # DBHE21-ADMN-4150, to solicit applications from qualified agencies to provide ChRIS program services for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026. The RFQ was publicly advertised through direct mailings to more than 400 community based organizations, advertised in eight local newspapers, and posted on the County’s Electronic Procurement Network (ePro).
A total of forty-one agencies were in attendance at the mandatory qualification application conference and technical assistance meeting on April 8, 2021. Thirty-three applications were received in response to the RFQ by the established deadline; five did not meet minimum qualifications and were eliminated. Two of the five eliminated applicants submitted appeals. Both appeals were denied by Purchasing. The remaining 28 agencies below continued in the evaluation process.
|
Agency Name |
|
All God's Children's Group Home |
|
Alpha Connection Youth and Family Services |
|
Berhe Group Home Inc. - dba. The Berhe Group |
|
Blissful Living Group Home, Inc. |
|
Boys Republic |
|
Camry Group Home |
|
Childhelp |
|
Children's Hope Group Home |
|
Downs & Martin Children's Services |
|
Ettie Lee Homes, Inc. - dba. Ettie Lee Youth and Family Services |
|
East Valley CHARLEE, Inc. |
|
Father's Heart - A Ranch for Children |
|
Fields Comprehensive Youth Services, Inc. |
|
Guiding Light Home For Boys, Inc. |
|
Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services |
|
Inspire A Youth, Inc. |
|
Luvlee's Residential Care, Inc. |
|
McKinley's Children Center, dba McKinley |
|
New Beginnings Residential Treatment Facilities |
|
Plan-It Life |
|
Purposely Chosen, Inc. |
|
River Stones Residential Treatment Services, Inc. |
|
Silence Aloud, Inc. |
|
South Coast Children's Society, Inc. - dba. South Coast Community Services |
|
Starshine Treatment Center, Inc. |
|
Summerplace, Inc. |
|
Tender Loving Care Home For Boys, Inc. - dba Corinthians Helping Hand STRTP |
|
Trinity Youth Services |
The evaluation committee was comprised of individuals from the DBH Contracts Administration, Children and Youth Collaborative Services and Fiscal. The committee reviewed and evaluated the applications based on the following criteria: demonstrated ability to serve target population; ability to provide required services as specified in the RFQ; ability to provide specified services by contract start date; experience in providing services described in RFQ; ability to meet staffing levels and requirements; appropriate facility location to proposed service area, availability of transportation, and facility layout; and the ability to provide required services in the specified geographic area.
Based on the evaluation results, all 28 evaluated applicants are recommended to be a part of the pool of qualified contract ChRIS providers for an aggregate program amount of $53,000,000, for the period July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026. DBH will evaluate each provider to ensure that all program conditions are met prior to executing the individual contract templates.
The unique aspect of the ChRIS program is the use of an aggregate contract amount so that funds may be utilized across agencies as the different levels of need become apparent. In the recommended aggregate contracts, the amount serves as a projection or expectation of utilization across all of the contracts, which will be monitored by individual contract on a monthly basis and adjusted if needed. ChRIS is an ongoing procurement, which allows applicants to apply after the initial procurement is complete.
Upon Board of Supervisors’ approval of the recommended actions, the 28 identified qualified providers will provide the necessary ChRIS services under the standard agreement template effective July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2026. In addition, DBH is requesting authorization for the Assistant Executive Officer of Human Services, Deputy Executive Officer of Human Services, or Director of the Department of Behavioral Health to execute the individual standard agreement templates with the 28 identified agencies, as well as making any non-substantive changes, subject to review by County Counsel. A template is being utilized due to the large number of contractors within the qualified pool, and approval of this request will expedite the process with participating providers.
DBH will monitor contractor performance on a regular basis to ensure performance and compliance standards and requirements are met.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health Contracts (Ellayna Hoatson, Contracts Supervisor, 388-0858) on May 28, 2021; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on May 28, 2021; Purchasing (Bruce Cole, Supervising Buyer, 387-2148) on June 16, 2021; Finance (Christopher Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on June 4, 2021; and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on June 4, 2021.