REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
August 25, 2020
FROM
CASONYA THOMAS, Assistant Executive Officer, Human Services
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Contract with Family Assistance Program for Transitional Age Youth Housing Under the State of California Homeless Emergency Aid Program
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No.1 to Contract No. 19-261 with the Family Assistance Program to clarify the contract terms associated with providing housing and support services to transitional age youth under the State of California Homeless Emergency Aid Program, with no change to the total contract amount of $525,600 or total contract period of April 30, 2019 through June 30, 2021.
(Presenter: CaSonya Thomas, Assistant Executive Officer, 387-4717)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Provide for the Safety, Health and Social Service Needs of County Residents.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The total contract amount of $525,600 for the provision of these services is funded by the State of California Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) funding. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Community Development and Housing Agency’s 2019-20 and 2020-21 budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The County of San Bernardino Human Services, Office of Homeless Services (OHS) is the lead agency for the local Continuum of Care (CoC). The CoC is the local planning body that coordinates housing and services funding for homeless families and individuals. The CoC and OHS received a $9,389,655 State HEAP award in response to the County’s homeless crisis. While these funds may be used in a variety of ways to address homelessness (e.g. street outreach, prevention services, transitional housing, rental assistance, rapid re-housing services, etc.), the State encourages and expects local CoCs and large cities to work with youth advocates and youth service providers to determine the most appropriate services for this target population. Therefore, a minimum of 5% of HEAP funds has been set aside to establish or expand services meeting the needs of homeless youth or youth at risk of homelessness.
To meet this requirement, HEAP funds were awarded to two Transitional Age Youth (TAY) service providers, including Family Assistance Program (FAP) to provide housing and support services to youth between 16-25 years of age, who are facing times of crisis (e.g. homelessness, emotional distress, mental health crisis, substance abuse challenges). Homelessness among youth continues to be an issue of concern throughout the country. Many youths, whether unaccompanied or residing with friends and/or family, experience many of the same factors such as poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse, lack of housing stability, and mental health disorders that contribute to adult homelessness. Youth homelessness is often characterized through crisis resulting from family instability and breakdown, which result in youth running away from negative environments or through abandonment.
FAP is classified as Transitional Housing under the HEAP grant and its expenditure operations are structured on a fee for service schedule. The FAP contract had originally been structured for payment based on expenditure reports, supporting documentation and performance requirements, but should have been structured as fee for service. Therefore, the recommended amendment will revise the FAP HEAP contract to streamline the reporting requirements by allowing FAP to charge a single fixed client fee for service against its HEAP award. The single fixed client fee for service is $45 per night per client for an average stay of 12 months. The program provides shared housing that includes all expenses, at no cost to the youth. Services provided to FAP clients include but are not limited to access to a 24-hour crisis hotline, crisis intervention services, shelter services (e.g. housing, food, etc.), court support, intensive case management, and advocacy. This amendment will apply retroactively to the entire term of FAP’s HEAP contract, eliminating the more detailed fiscal reporting requirements to the beginning of the contract.
On May 19, 2020, during a contract performance check-in call, FAP requested that its contract be restructured based on the type of business the vendor operates, and indicated the original contract should be setup as fee for service. OHS worked with the vendor to obtain the appropriate documentation needed for this change. This is the first date available following the required operational, fiscal, and legal reviews for presentation. Approval by the Board of Supervisors (Board) at this time will have no impact services or activities provided by FAP.
PROCUREMENT
On April 30, 2019 (Item No. 88), as the result of a competitive procurement, the Board approved Contract No. 19-261 with FAP for the provision of TAY housing and support services under the State of California HEAP program, in the amount of $525,600 for the period of April 30, 2019 through June 30, 2021.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Suzanne Bryant, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on August 7, 2020; Purchasing Department (Michelle Churchill, Supervising Buyer, 387-2063) on August 11, 2020; Finance (Chris Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on August 7, 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on August 10, 2020.