REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 27, 2023
FROM
GEORGINA YOSHIOKA, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Standard Agreement Template for Emergency Shelter Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve a standard agreement template for emergency shelter services, in an aggregate amount not to exceed $38,971,830, for the period of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2028.
2. Authorize the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health to execute the standard agreement template with any non-substantive changes, in addition to any non-substantive amendments, to the standard agreement template, inclusive but not limited to site population changes, address changes and name changes, with the individual emergency shelter service agencies, for the period of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2028, on behalf of the County, subject to review by County Counsel.
(Presenter: Georgina Yoshioka, Director, 252-5142)
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 and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This item does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The total aggregate amount of $38,971,830 for emergency shelter services will be funded by 1991 Realignment, State Assembly Bill 109, State of California Department of State Hospitals Grant, and the Mental Health Service Act. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2023-24 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
DBH is responsible for providing mental health and/or substance use disorder (SUD) services to San Bernardino County (County) residents who are experiencing severe mental illness and/or a SUD and are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless. An integral part of the service delivery system consists of County-operated and contracted service providers delivering a variety of behavioral health treatment services, including emergency shelter services.
In 1985, DBH instituted a program for homeless consumers living with a behavioral health condition or co-occurring disorder. Since that time, the program has expanded to meet the increasing need for services with the purpose of providing the basic needs of food and shelter to consumers with behavioral health conditions who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless. The goal of this program is to prevent significant homelessness among the consumers with behavioral health conditions by securing contracted emergency shelters throughout the various regions of the county.
To be a part of DBH’s qualified emergency shelter services vendor pool, shelters must accept individuals with a primary diagnosis of moderate to severe mental illness who may have a secondary diagnosis of substance use disorder who are chronically homeless or at risk of becoming homeless due to mental illness. The target population includes transitional age youth, including pregnant and/or mothering youth; adults and older adults; and individuals supervised through the criminal justice system and/or presenting with a history of involvement in the criminal justice system and/or psychiatric hospital system of care.
Emergency shelter services are initially approved for up to six months and can be reduced or increased based on the ability of each consumer to find long-term stable housing. The proposed contract will provide a total of 599,567 bed days serving approximately 400 consumers annually for current and future mental health programs mandated by the State of California. The daily bed rate for providers is $65 per consumer, per bed day to account for costs of providing services impacted by inflation. The total cost per consumer varies based on the individual need of each consumer.
Currently, countywide emergency shelter services are provided to consumers receiving behavioral health services through the Adult Forensic Services, Regional Outpatient Services, Homeless Outreach Support Team, Transitional Age Youth, and 24-Hour and Emergency Services programs. Through current contracts providing emergency shelter services, DBH has provided 351,606 safe bed days from July 1, 2017 through March 30, 2023.
PROCUREMENT
On March 9, 2023, the County Administrative Office approved and authorized the release of a Request for Applications (RFA) No. DBHE23-ADMN-4927 through the Electronic Procurement Network (ePro), to solicit interested and qualified organizations and agencies to provide emergency shelter services. Per the RFA, agencies were instructed to submit one application listing all locations and their respective populations. The RFA was publicly advertised through direct mailings to more than 600 community-based organizations, service providers, and other interested parties; advertised in local newspapers; and posted on ePro.
A bidder’s conference was held on April 4, 2023. As a result, 19 applications were received in response to the RFA by the established deadline. The applications were evaluated on a pass/fail basis, based on documentation and applicant responses in the following areas: experience, qualifications of personnel, ability to serve a specific geographic area and maintain an appropriate facility, and ability to meet the needs of the target population. 18 agencies met the procurement requirements and continued in the evaluation process.
Emergency shelter services is an ongoing procurement, which allows DBH to continuously accept proposals from new providers. This is necessary to ensure DBH can continue to expand these services as the need for additional beds continues to grow countywide. To provide timely access to these needed services as well as reduce homelessness, DBH will require the ability to add providers and beds quickly. The agreement template requested in Recommendation No. 1 will be executed with the 18 agencies that met the procurement requirements and will be utilized due to the ongoing need to expedite adding new facilities to the existing qualified provider pool.
DBH will monitor contractor performance on a regular basis to ensure compliance standards are met. Contract monitoring is inclusive of, but not limited to, site visits and assessments of policy, procedures, process implementation, and service delivery components, to ensure compliance with the contract and applicable laws and regulations. The fiscal review ensures costs claimed are reasonable, allowable, and in compliance with related financial records and procedures.
The standard agreement template with the individual emergency shelter providers may be terminated with or without cause upon 30 days written notice.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health Contracts (Ellayna Hoatson, Contracts Supervisor, 388-0858) on May 24, 2023; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on May 31, 2023; Finance (Christopher Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on June 2, 2023; and County Finance and Administration (Cheryl Adams, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0238) on June 8, 2023.