DATE: June 4, 2024
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Susan Holt, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT: Amendment to Agreement with National Latino Behavioral Health Association
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Approve and authorize the Chairman to execute First Amendment to an Agreement with National Latino Behavioral Health Association to increase the maximum number of Behavioral Health Interpreter Training courses to accommodate the Department of Behavioral Health bilingual certified workforce demands, effective upon execution with no change to the term of July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2027, and increasing the maximum by $29,500 to a total of $267,400.
REPORT
Approval of the recommended action will increase the maximum number of Behavioral Health Interpreter Training (BHIT) for Interpreters Training courses offered in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 from one to two sessions and increase the maximum number of BHIT for Providers Training courses offered in Fiscal Year 2024-2025 from two to four sessions. This would allow the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) to meet training demand and consistently offer BHIT for Interpreters training twice a year to ensure newly certified bilingual staff and contracted interpreters are able to attend this core competency training within six months from their certification date and/or contract execution date, as noted in DBH Policy & Procedure Guide 1.5.1. The agreement will be funded with Mental Health Services Act - Workforce Education and Training, with no increase in Net County Cost. This item is countywide.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
If your Board does not approve the recommended action, the Department will be out of compliance with its own policy and procedure guide training requirements and will not be providing this core competency training in a timely manner, possibly hindering the quality of interpretation services to persons served.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. Costs for the trainings ($267,400) are funded by Mental Health Services Act - Workforce Education and Training. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues will be included in the Department’s 5630 FY 2024-25 Recommended Budget.
DISCUSSION:
On June 21, 2022, your Board approved Agreement No. 22-261 with NLBHA to provide Behavioral Health Interpreter Trainings for DBH personnel, contracted service providers, and contracted interpreters from FYs 2022-23 through 2024-25 with two optional one-year extensions.
As of February 7, 2024, 89 individuals have been trained in how to effectively use behavioral health interpreters when serving who prefer their services in another language other than English. Also, 68 staff have been trained to be effective behavioral health interpreters or effectively serve persons in their preferred language that is not English. DBH Policy & Procedure Guide 1.5.1 requires all certified DBH bilingual staff and contracted interpreters who provide interpretation services to DBH clients participate and complete quadrennial foundational interpreter training, with the initial behavioral health interpreter training for interpreters occurring within six months from certification or contract execution. Training on how to effectively use behavioral health interpreters is part of the core curriculum for any DBH staff interacting directly with persons served or the public. However, with the current number of trainings available, newly hired staff have difficulty receiving the training in a timely manner and typically attend a session over six months past their initial hire date, potentially impacting quality of services.
Under the current agreement, nine virtual BHIT Training for Interpreters trainings and fourteen virtual BHIT for Providers trainings are budgeted for FY 2022-23 through FY 2026-27. With the proposed Amendment, DBH will be able to add a second BHIT for Interpreters training for FY 23-24 and FY 24-25 and two additional BHIT for Providers trainings for FY 24-25. This Amendment will increase the total number of trainings to twenty-six, with ten behavioral health interpreter trainings for interpreters and sixteen behavioral health interpreter trainings for providers over the five-year term. The newly added trainings on this amendment are applied only through FY 24-25 because DBH anticipates being up to date on training required staff in BHIT for Providers after the two additional sessions in FY 24-25, thus not needing any additional training beyond the three sessions per Fiscal Year in the current agreement. There are no additional BHIT for Interpreters courses being added beyond FY 24-25 because both FY 25-26 and FY 26-27 already have the two required trainings per Fiscal Year in the current agreement.
NLBHA has been providing both BHIT trainings for DBH since 2018. The BHIT Training for Interpreters training is a four-day half day (14 hours) intensive training specialized for bilingual staff and contracted interpreters who use their linguistic skills to provide services in at least one other language other than English. This virtual training has a capacity of 35 individuals. The BHIT for Providers is a two-day half day (7 hours) training for monolingual English speaking provider staff on how to successfully work with an Interpreter in behavioral health settings. This training can accommodate up to 35 individuals.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI #42, June 21, 2022
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Amendment No. 1 to Agreement with NLBHA
CAO ANALYST:
Ronald Alexander