REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
June 8, 2021
FROM
VERONICA KELLEY, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT
Title
Amendment to Contract with Social Science Services, Inc. dba Cedar House Life Change Center for Residential and Co-Occurring Treatment Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve Amendment No. 1, effective June 8, 2021, to Contract No. 17-302 with Social Sciences Services, Inc. dba Cedar House Life Change Center for the provision of residential co-occurring treatment services for clients with mental health and/or co-occurring disorders, updating contract language, revising reimbursement criteria for treatment services to include only those participants not eligible for Drug Medi-Cal, and decreasing the total contract amount by $697,680, from $3,723,000 to $3,025,320, with no change to the total contract period of July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2022.
(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 decreased amount of $697,680 for residential treatment services will be returned to Mental Health Services Act, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and Assembly Bill 109 Public Safety Realignment funding budgets. Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Department of Behavioral Health’s (DBH) 2020-21 budget and will be included in the 2021-22 recommended budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
As the Mental Health Plan for the County, DBH is required to provide an array of behavioral health services. DBH utilizes a network of providers in the most cost-effective manner possible for these services. Social Science Services, Inc. dba Cedar House Life Change Center (Cedar House) provides monitored residential services for co-occurring treatment beds for individuals with mental health and/or co-occurring disorders.
Contract No. 17-302 will maintain all monitored residential services currently available at Cedar House, which includes 24 beds for Supervised Treatment After Release (STAR), Community Supervised Treatment After Release (CSTAR), and Choosing Healthy Options to Instill Change and Empowerment (CHOICE) participants, serving approximately 96 clients annually.
Cedar House now utilizes Cedar House Treatment and Withdrawal Management Services Template Contract, No. 19-3 (Board of Supervisors approved the Standard Agreement Template on March 19, 2019, Item No. 7) for all eligible Drug Medi-Cal treatments for participants. The recommended amendment removes the funds that were once allocated to these participants and Cedar House Contract No. 17-302 will still maintain treatment services for any residential participant from STAR, CSTAR and CHOICE, that no longer qualifies or is not eligible under Drug Medi-Cal.
Drug Medi-Cal, Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS) demonstrates how organized substance use disorder care increases the success of Drug Medi-Cal beneficiaries while decreasing other system health care costs. Under DMC-ODS, Cedar House is allowed to bill the eligible participant’s treatment and withdrawal management services directly to Drug Medi-Cal.
PROCUREMENT
On May 23, 2017 (Item No. 45), the Board approved the non-competitive Contract No. 17-302 with Cedar House for residential co-occurring treatment services, in the amount of $3,723,000, for the contract period of September 1, 2017 through June 30, 2022. Purchasing concurred with the non-competitive determination due to the specialty mental health services rendered.
DBH will monitor contractor performance on a regular basis to ensure compliance standards are met.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by Behavioral Health Contracts (Natalie Kessee, Administrative Manager, 388-0858) on April 30, 2021; County Counsel (Dawn Martin, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on May 12, 2021; Finance (Christopher Lange, Administrative Analyst, 386-8393) on May 21, 2021; and County Finance and Administration (Tanya Bratton, Deputy Executive Officer, 388-0332) on May 21, 2021.