DATE: February 1, 2022
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Susan Holt, Interim Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT: Retroactive Grant Application with the California Department of Health Care Services
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Retroactively approve and authorize the Department of Behavioral Health’s previous submittal of a grant application to the California Department of Health Care Services for the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program Planning Grant ($150,000).
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will authorize the retroactive submission of a grant application to the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS). To meet the grant’s November 1, 2021 filing deadline, the Department of Behavioral Health submitted the grant application, contingent upon your Board’s approval. If awarded, the funds are to be utilized to expand behavioral health infrastructure capacity. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There is no alternative action. Should your Board opt not to approve the recommended action, the submitted grant application will be withdrawn from consideration.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. There is no County match requirement for receipt of grant funds. If approved, the grant will provide $150,000 over the period of July 2021 through December 31, 2022 and return to your Board with an agreement with DHCS.
DISCUSSION:
DHCS was authorized through California Welfare and Institutions Code, Division 5, Part 7, Chapter 1 to establish the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) and award $2.2 billion to construct, acquire, and expand properties and invest in mobile crisis infrastructure related to behavioral health. In partnership with Advocates for Human Potential, Inc. (AHP), DHCS is releasing these funds through six grant rounds targeting various gaps in the state’s behavioral health facility infrastructure. In each round, DHCS will invite entities to apply.
On October 19, 2021, your Board approved the retroactive submission of Round 1: Mobile Crisis grant application to DHCS for supplemental funds, in the amount of $753,500, for mobile Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) services and training specific to CIT for Youth.
On November 1, 2021, DHCS released the Request for Application (RFA) for Round 2: Planning Grants, allowing the Department to begin planning how to best address local behavioral health facility needs, along with developing strategies and action steps to meet these needs. The grant is up to $150,000 and covers the period of January 3, 2022 through December 31, 2022. The filing deadline was November 30, 2021. To meet the filing deadline, the Department previously submitted the application to AHP, contingent upon your Board’s approval.
Approval of the recommended action would allow the Department to expand behavioral health infrastructure capacity. The Department would utilize a Staff Analyst, or a combination of Staff Analysts to fulfill one full-time equivalent, to complete a needs assessment. The needs assessment would help the Department fully understand the infrastructure opportunities throughout the system of care, then identify infrastructure investments (projects) to address these opportunities. Once infrastructure investments are identified, the Staff Analyst would work with stakeholders to quantify the needs at the different levels of care, then prioritize projects that would be most effective in addressing the opportunities identified. The Staff Analyst would also develop budgets to prepare for future infrastructure grant opportunities.
The Planning Grant Full Year Budget for Staff Analyst includes $76,128 in personnel costs, $70,032 in payroll taxes/benefits, and $3,840 in other direct expenses (office supplies, meeting supplies, stakeholder materials, misc.). The total year request is $150,000.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #25, October 19, 2021
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Grant Application with Department of Health Care Services
CAO ANALYST:
Sonia M. De La Rosa