REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
November 16, 2021
FROM
GARY HALLEN, Director, Community Development and Housing
SUBJECT
Title
Agreement with Inland Southern California 211+ and Amendment to Contract with Inland Counties Legal Services, Inc. for Housing and Disability Advocacy Program Services
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve Amendment No. 3, retroactively effective July 1, 2021, to Contract No. 18-550 with Inland Counties Legal Services, Inc. to continue legal advocacy services, increasing the contract amount by $186,000, from $484,329 to a total contract amount of $670,329, and extending the contract for an additional year, for a total contract period of August 1, 2018 through June 30, 2022.
2. Approve contract with Inland Southern California 211+ to provide bridge housing, case management, outreach, financial assistance, and Coordinated Entry System support services in the amount of $561,228, retroactively effective from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.
(Presenter: Gary Hallen, Director, 387-4411)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Promote the Countywide Vision.
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 will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The Transitional Assistance Department (TAD) received an allocation of funding from the State of California Health and Human Services, Department of Social Services (CDSS) for the Housing and Disability Advocacy Program (HDAP). TAD entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Community Development and Housing Department (CDH) for CDH to administer the program as the Administrative Entity (AE), which is funded with the TAD HDAP allocation. Adequate appropriation and revenue will be included in the CDH’s (Cost Center 6210002496) 2021-22 first quarter budget adjustment.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Since 2018, San Bernardino County (County) has administered HDAP to assist individuals experiencing homelessness apply for disability benefit programs such as Social Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Income (SSDI), and/or Veteran’s Disability Compensation, while also providing short-term shelter and permanent housing assistance. On September 13, 2021, CDSS issued the formal notification of funding for HDAP. The County’s 2021-22 non-competitive allocation of $3,857,169 must be expended by June 30, 2024. As the AE of the program, CDH is requesting to retroactively increase the contract with Inland Counties Legal Services, Inc. (ICLS) by $186,000 to provide legal advocacy services to ensure the continuation of the HDAP program for clients already enrolled in the program and 40 additional clients. CDH is also requesting to retroactively enter into a contract with Inland Southern California 211+ (ISC211+), formerly Inland Empire United Way (IEUW), in the total amount of $586,228 to provide short-term shelter and permanent housing assistance.
The retroactive actions for the contracts are being requested as the contracts with previous HDAP providers expired on June 30, 2021. The two major contributing factors in the lapse of these contracts were an administrative delay between CDH and TAD in entering into a new funding memorandum of understanding (MOU) between departments, in addition to the State CDSS delay in funding. At the time of funding expiration, there were clients still enrolled in the program (“Rollover Clients”). A total of 14 clients were housed in motels while awaiting transition into the Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) units that were undergoing rehabilitation by the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino. A total of 40 clients were also in various stages of the application process to obtain disability benefits with ICLS.
Given the nature of the services, the extreme vulnerability of the clients and the inherent challenges with serving the HDAP target population, even a temporary interruption of the program would have adversely impacted the housing status, health, and stability of the clients. Consequently, the services were continued while the County completed the required internal MOU and awaited CDSS to complete the formalized funding process. As of September 2021, nine of the Rollover Clients have successfully transitioned from the motels to PSH units and four of the legal advocacies have been awarded disability benefits. Since July 1, 2021, $154,950 has been expended for the continuation of services to the Rollover Clients.
Despite many challenges such as the vulnerability of the clients, the extreme scarcity of available PSH units, and the prolonged 18 to 24-month SSI/SSDI application process, HDAP program has assisted 178 households with housing and legal services, of which 87 have been placed into permanent housing, 46 have successfully submitted SSI/SSDI applications, and 12 have been awarded benefits. Some of the challenges inherent to serving HDAP clients require program enrollments that overlap program years.
Although the HDAP allocation is approved through June 30, 2024, CDH is recommending annual contracts based upon programmatic needs and ongoing performance of each contractor.
On July 24, 2018 (Item No. 16), the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved Contract No. 18-550 with ICLS, in an amount not to exceed $400,000 to provide disability advocacy services/legal assistance to HDAP clients during the disability application process for the period of August 1, 2018 through June 30, 2020. On October 16, 2018 (Item No. 23), the Board approved Amendment No.1 to Contract No. 18-550, which increased the contract amount by $170,000 to $570,000, to expand on the homeless population served to include those who are not Housing and Disability Advocacy Program-eligible. On June 23, 2020 (Item No. 38), the Board approved Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. 18-550, reducing the contract by $85,671 to $484,329 and extending the contract period through June 30, 2021.
Additionally, on October 16, 2018 (Item No. 23), the Board approved Contract No. 18-771 with IEUW in an amount of $623,316 to provide HDAP services. On June 23, 2020 (Item No. 38), the Board approved Amendment No.1 to Contract No. 18-771, increasing the contract amount by $137,301 to $760,617, to provide bridge housing, case management and Coordinated Entry System (CES) support services and extend the contract period through June 30, 2021. On October 27, 2020 (Item No. 28), the Board approved Amendment No. 2 to Contract No. 18-771, increasing the contract amount by $600,371 to $1,360,988. Although approval of Recommendation No. 2 would result in the issuance of a new contract to ISC211+, ISC211+ previously operated under the name of IEUW and has provided HDAP services since 2018. The scope of services provided by ISC211+ for the HDAP program are separate and distinct from 2-1-1 services.
The HDAP program has been instrumental in housing and assisting the homeless population with disability advocacy services. With proper alignment, HDAP will play an integral role in meeting the following County Homeless Strategic Framework strategies:
• Expand homelessness prevention and housing programs
• Create healthy communities to improve quality of life for unsheltered individuals
• Continue to expand coordination between systems, increase the use of data to improve programs and increase training opportunities for all partners
Over the course of program implementation, bridge housing has been one of the most effective functions of the program as it creates housing stability and increases access to otherwise transitory clients. In support of the primary objective of the HDAP program to assist program participants with obtaining SSI/SSDI benefits, bridge housing increases accessibility to the clients, which increases efficacy of the disability advocacy services and results in an increase of successful application submissions and, in some cases, the award of SSI/SSDI benefits. The HDAP will use the current funding to continue to provide case management, case coordination and support via the CES, housing financial assistance (i.e., furnishings, housewares, appliances, security deposits, etc.), legal/disability advocacy, and short- and mid-term bridge housing.
The table below demonstrates the activity-level distributions, by provider, for the proposed funding for the July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022 service period:
|
HDAP Activity |
Provider |
Proposed Activity Expansion |
|
Outreach |
|
Coordinated Entry System (CES) Support |
Inland Southern California 211+ |
$117,900 |
|
Case Management |
Inland Southern California 211+ |
$56,000 |
|
Financial Assistance |
|
Bridge Housing |
Inland Southern California 211+ |
$322,328 |
|
Housing Financial Assistance |
Inland Southern California 211+ |
$40,000 |
|
Administration |
Inland Southern California 211+ |
$25,000 |
|
Legal |
|
Disability Advocacy |
Inland County Legal Services |
$186,000 |
|
Total |
|
$747,228 |
Although the HDAP program only funds ICLS and ISC211+ to provide direct services, the current program implementation and accomplishments may be attributed to the leveraging of resources and the fostering of partnerships with other County departments (i.e., Department of Behavioral Health, Transitional Assistance Department, etc.) and local service providers to increase service delivery.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Suzanne Bryant, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on November 4, 2021; Finance (Kathleen Gonzalez, Administrative Analyst, 387-5412) on November 4, 2021; and County Finance and Administration (Robert Saldana, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on November 4, 2021.