REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 2, 2020
FROM
VERONICA KELLEY, Director, Department of Behavior Health
SUBJECT
Title v
Non-Financial Memorandum of Understanding with the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino for the No Child Left Unsheltered Program
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve non-financial Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Behavioral Health and the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino to provide housing subsidies and case management services for the No Child Left Unsheltered Program, for the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025.
(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 is a non-financial, in-kind Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that does not impact Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) provides intensive case management services as an in-kind service match for housing subsidies through the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino’s (HACSB) No Child Left Unsheltered Program (NCLU).
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The NCLU Program, administered by HACSB, provides permanent housing subsidies with supportive services to homeless unsheltered children and their families. The program aims to end homelessness of unsheltered families with children in San Bernardino County. HACSB works with the County’s Coordinated Entry System to identify eligible families. In turn, DBH provides intensive case management services as well as referrals for behavioral health services to support the long-term stability of the families. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development authorized HACSB to set aside 40 Housing Choice Vouchers (rental housing subsidy) for eligible families for this program; therefore, at any given time, up to 40 families are served through the NCLU program. Since the program’s inception in April 2015, 198 individuals have been housed through this program, including 124 children.
DBH provides intensive case management services per family unit in the NCLU Program to assist in identifying and removing barriers to families successfully becoming employed, housed or educated to the level needed to achieve self-sufficiency. DBH assesses the family’s living situation, physical and emotional health, safety and crisis, develops a plan and timeline to assist the family to regain stability; documents the family’s progress; participates in case coordination meetings with HACSB; and continually assesses the service needs of the families. Once intensive case management services are no longer necessary, the families continue to have access to their case managers, should they need assistance in the future.
The recommended MOU will allow DBH and HACSB to continue to work together providing housing subsidies and case management services to families in need. DBH and HACSB will review, monitor, and evaluate program outcomes to ensure adherence to requirements of the MOU.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health (Ellayna Hoatson, Contracts Supervisor, 388-0858) on March 13, 2020; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on March 24, 2020; Finance (Christopher Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on April 29, 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on April 29, 2020. This item was also reviewed by Maria Razo, Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino