REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
July 28, 2020
FROM
VERONICA KELLEY, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Contract with Helping Hearts California, LLC for Adult Residential Facilities with Social Rehabilitation Treatment Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve contract with Helping Hearts California, LLC for Adult Residential Facilities with Social Rehabilitation Treatment services, in the amount of $6,168,500, for the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.
(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 cost for services will not exceed $6,168,500 and will be funded by Medi-Cal Federal Financial Participation and Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funding. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2020-21 budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since 2016, DBH utilized Adult Residential Facilities with the Social Rehabilitation model with community networking services for adults experiencing a behavioral health condition/s, who no longer meet medical necessity for an acute psychiatric hospital, or who have reached treatment goals in a locked psychiatric residential facility. This residential, un-locked, home-like environment provides treatment services as well as community-based activities and other support services that will teach and enhance skills for independent living. DBH anticipates the recommended contract with Helping Hearts California, LLC (Helping Hearts) will serve approximately 80 consumers at an average cost of $77,106 annually per consumer. These residential treatment facilities are utilized as a prior consideration into or from the costlier acute psychiatric hospitalization or locked residential facilities and provide access to long-term as well as transitional treatment for social rehabilitation depending on the needs of the individual consumer.
DBH’s Adult Residential Services program has been instrumental in reducing costly acute psychiatric hospitalizations and providing community-based treatment services in a home-like setting, assisting consumers in obtaining independence and improved functioning. Other facilities are working with DBH, such as Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, Office of Public Guardian, and other key stakeholders, to reduce acute psychiatric hospitalizations and assist with successful reintegration of consumers into the community.
PROCUREMENT
On February 18, 2020, the County Administrative Office approved and authorized the release of a Request for Proposals (RFP), RFP#19-45, RFP# DBHE20-ADMN-3688, to solicit vendors to provide Adult Residential Facilities with Social Rehabilitation Treatment services, minimum of 52 beds accessible 24/7/365 for the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025. The RFP 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 seven agencies attended the mandatory proposal conference on March 4, 2020. Two proposals were received in response to the RFP; all proposals met procurement qualifications and were reviewed during the evaluation process.
|
Proposing Agency |
1-Year Proposed Amount |
|
Helping Hearts, San Bernardino |
$6,168,500 |
|
Amethyst Behavioral Health, Colton |
$6,168,500 |
The evaluation committee was comprised of five individuals from the Behavioral Health Commission, Public Guardian, Office of Homeless Services, and DBH. The committee reviewed and evaluated the proposals based on the following evaluation criteria: being licensed and certified by the state, proposed program services and strategies, outcome measures, experience, staffing qualifications, appropriateness of homelike facilities, and readiness to provide services.
Based on the evaluation results, Helping Hearts is recommended for contract award, in the amount of $6,168,500, to provide 40 beds for Adult Residential Facilities with Social Rehabilitation Treatment services, for the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. Both proposals evaluated successfully met the evaluation criteria, with Helping Hearts ranking highest. Helping Heart’s proposal indicated the agency will provide the most adequate and appropriate services, will be ready to provide services by the contract start date, and has the required experience as the agency is currently providing Adult Residential Facilities with Social Rehabilitation services to San Bernardino County residents.
Upon approval, Helping Hearts will provide treatment services at facilities located in Colton, Ontario, San Bernardino, Fontana and Victorville for DBH consumers who are discharging from high acuity restrictive residential settings. The recommended contract has been written for a one-year period, with four one-year extension options contingent on funding and contractor performance. DBH will monitor contractor performance on a regular basis to ensure performance and compliance standards are met.
In addition, DBH is currently in negotiations with Amethyst Behavioral Health to provide the remaining 12 beds for Adult Residential Facilities with Social Rehabilitation Treatment services, pending licensure of their facilities. Once contract negotiations have been completed, DBH will present the contract with Amethyst Behavioral Health to the Board of Supervisors (Board) for approval.
This item is being presented at this time due to the processing delays as a result of COVID 19, extensive contract negotiations with the agencies, and completion of the required operational, fiscal, and legal reviews. Negotiations with the vendor continued throughout the month of June, which involved several meetings to clarify contract terms, such as billing and payment language and procedures, prior to Helping Hearts agreeing to the final document. Approval by the Board at this time will have no impact on services and activities.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health Contracts (Natalie Kessee, Contracts Manager, 388-0869) on July 8, 2020; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on July 8, 2020; Purchasing Department (Bruce Cole, Supervising Buyer, 387-2148) on July 9, 2020; Finance (Christopher Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on, July 10 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on, July 10, 2020.