DATE: June 22, 2021
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Delfino E. Neira, Director, Department of Social Services
SUBJECT: Amendment I to Agreement with The Fresno Center
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute Amendment I to Agreement No. 19-450 with The Fresno Center for mental health services related to employment, effective July 1, 2021, extending the term by two years from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2023, and increasing the maximum by $3,866,678 to a total of $10,163,842.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will allow The Fresno Center (TFC) to continue to provide California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Welfare to Work (WTW) participants services for overcoming mental health barriers to employment, with no increase in Net County Cost. The amendment will extend the agreement two years, reduce the annual maximum, and revise the number of clients served based on actuals. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There is no viable alternative action. If your Board does not approve the recommended action, the Department of Social Services will be out of compliance with the Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC) 1120, which mandates the provision of mental health services related to employability for WTW participants.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The maximum cost of the agreement ($10,163,842) will be offset using the CalWORKs Mental Health and Substance Abuse Allocation. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues will be included in the Department’s Org 5610 FY 2021-22 Recommended Budget and will be included in subsequent budget requests for the duration of the agreement.
The County has a required Maintenance of Effort (MOE) of $4,022,882 for FY 2021-22 for the CalWORKs program. Once the MOE has been met, all expenses over that amount will be 100% funded with State and Federal dollars up to the amount of the annual CalWORKs Mental Health and Substance Abuse Allocation. Social Services Realignment funds will be used to meet the CalWORKs MOE.
DISCUSSION:
On September 10, 2019, your Board approved Agreement No. 19-450 with TFC to provide services for WTW clients with mild-to-moderate mental health symptoms that are barriers to employment. Due to the agreement providing a new model of mental health services to WTW participants, the initial term was for 10 months, the remainder of the FY 2019-20, with an optional 12-month term for FY 2020-21.
The recommended amendment will increase the agreement term by two years, for a total of three years and 10 months, and reduce the annual maximum compensation.
The current agreement is a new service, and at the time when the Department released the Request for Proposal (RFP), the actual number of clients that would access this service was unknown. In the RFP it was estimated that the Department would provide 1,600 referrals annually, and 800 clients would be provided services. Actual referrals for this service are below the anticipated amount. During the first year of service, 653 clients were referred, and in FY 2020-21 it is anticipated to be slightly less.
The proposed amendment will decrease the annual number of referrals to 800, with 500 participants anticipated to receive services to align with the actual need. The reduction in the agreement’s annual max compensation from $3,148,582 to $1,933,339 is reflective of the reduction in anticipated referrals and clients served annually by TFC.
TFC met all outcomes in FY 2019-20 and are on pace to be close to or meet contracted outcomes for FY 2020-21. Despite challenges raised by the COVID pandemic, TFC has been able to meet these outcomes through the implementation and utilization of telemedicine to serve WTW participants.
The recommended agreement services include: mental health screenings and assessments, individualized treatment plans, case management, individual/couple/family/child/group therapy, limited childcare services, mental health training for Department staff who work with WTW participants, as well as mental health presentations for the Department’s Job Ready staff. Services are provided to clients throughout the County and include home-based services when appropriate.
The services requested are in accordance with the WIC Division 9, Part 3, Chapter 2, Article 3.2, section 11325.7, which provides the County a funding stream for barrier removal services for WTW participants experiencing mental health symptoms.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #57, September 10, 2019
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Amendment I to Agreement No. 19-450 with TFC
CAO ANALYST:
Sonia M. De La Rosa