REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
March 26, 2024
FROM
GEORGINA YOSHIOKA, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Contract with Valley Star Behavioral Health, Inc. for One Stop Transitional Age Youth Center Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 20-366, effective December 1, 2023, with Valley Star Behavioral Health, Inc. for the provision of One Stop Transitional Age Youth Center services, in the West Valley Region, updating standard contract language, and increasing the total contract amount by $3,196,749, from $5,650,000 to $8,846,749, with no change to the contract period of July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2025.
(Presenter: Georgina Yoshioka, Director, 252-5142)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
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 recommended increase of $3,196,749 for One Stop Transitional Age Youth (TAY) Center services with Valley Star Behavioral Health, Inc. (Valley Star) is funded by Federal Financial Participation Medi-Cal, Local Share and the Mental Health Services Act. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2023-24 budget and will be included in the 2024-25 recommended budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DBH is responsible for providing mental health, alcohol, and substance use disorder (SUD) services to San Bernardino County (County) residents experiencing severe mental illness and/or SUD. As the Mental Health Plan for the County, DBH provides authorization and oversight for inpatient and outpatient specialty mental health services and is required to provide a range of behavioral health services, such as One Stop TAY Center services, to county residents.
DBH has provided One Stop TAY Center services to TAY, ages 16-25, that are underserved, unserved and inappropriately served from diverse ethnic and lower social economic populations with issues related to SUD, mental health, and homelessness since 2007. One Stop TAY Centers stabilize, restore and/or increase relationships and community networking for TAY, while reducing the cost of delivering behavioral health services by avoiding frequent and unnecessary hospitalization and/or homelessness. One Stop TAY Centers maintain family/community ties; provide TAY-specific behavioral health services and activities at non-stigmatized “safe” zones (One Stop TAY Centers); and decrease use of inappropriate care for dually diagnosed and abused TAY.
One Stop TAY Centers provide community-based assessments, treatment and co-location of community services within centralized locations to reduce the behavioral health services stigma and encourage access and family participation. TAY access One Stop TAY Center services as walk-ins from the community or through referrals from the County or outside agencies. Currently, services are provided at four centers, a County facility located in the Central Valley, and contracted facilities in the West Valley, Morongo Basin, and High Desert areas.
Participation in One Stop TAY Center services has resulted in reductions in homelessness, incarcerations, and unnecessary hospitalizations, with 76% of TAY who completed services showing improvement in life functioning and behavioral health issues. DBH anticipates that Valley Star will provide One Stop TAY Center services to approximately 63 youth for 2023-24, and 125 youth for 2024-25, at an estimated cost of $17,049 per youth.
On November 3, 2023, Mental Health Systems, Inc. dba Turn Behavioral Health Services (MHS, Inc.) notified DBH that effective December 31, 2023, MHS, Inc. will no longer provide One Stop TAY Center services to the West Valley region. As a result, Valley Star, the only other provider that proposed for the West Valley region, expressed their willingness and ability to expand their current contract for the Eastern Desert region to include the area previously covered by MHS, Inc. This commitment by Valley Star to expand their current operations provided a seamless transition and maintains a high standard of continuity of care.
Amendment No. 1 to Contract No. 20-366 with Valley Star will update standard contract language, adding Executive Order N-6-22 - Russia Sanctions, Campaign Contribution Disclosure (Senate Bill 1439) and expand Valley Star’s service area to include the West Valley region. The amendment will increase the total contract amount by $3,196,749, from $5,650,000 to $8,846,749 with no change to the contract period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025.
DBH is requesting retroactive approval of this amendment due to the negotiations necessary regarding the inclusion of additional funds for Valley Star, which were necessary to rapidly get the additional program services fully operational by January 1, 2024, without a break in services. This is the first available Board of Supervisors (Board) date after the required DBH program, fiscal, administrative, and legal reviews.
DBH program staff will monitor contract performance on a regular basis to ensure performance and compliance standards are met by reviewing monthly reports and Adult Needs and Strength Assessment data, as required in the contract) at regularly scheduled program review meetings. Electronic Health Record data and Claim for Reimbursement forms will be reviewed regularly to ensure fidelity and accuracy of service billing and maximization of Medi-Cal reimbursement in alignment with contract terms. Valley Star invoices will be reviewed and approved by DBH program staff to ensure client counts are accurate prior to being forwarded to DBH fiscal staff for payment. DBH fiscal staff will verify signatures and service costs prior to issuing payment.
PROCUREMENT
On June 9, 2020 (Item No. 15), as the result of a formal procurement, the Board approved Valley Star Contract No. 20-366 in the amount of $5,650,000, MHS, Inc. Contract No. 20-365 in the amount of $13,155,830, and Victor Community Support Services Contract No. 20-367 in the amount of $7,569,485, to provide One Stop TAY Center services, for a total aggregate amount of $26,375,315, for the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health (Ellayna Hoatson, Contract Supervisor, 388-0858) on February 26, 2024; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on March 6, 2024; Finance (Christopher Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on March 11, 2024; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0238) on March 11, 2024.