DATE: November 16, 2021
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Dawan Utecht, Director, Department of Behavioral Health
SUBJECT: Ratification of Retroactive State Application / Agreement for Workforce Education and Training Regional Partnerships
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
1. Retroactively approve and authorize the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health’s previous submittal of a grant application to the State of California, Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development for Workforce Education and Training (“WET”) Regional Partnerships (RP) effective September 15, 2020 through June 30, 2026 ($6,615,968); and
2. Retroactively approve and authorize the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health’s, or designee’s, electronic execution of grant agreement with the State of California, Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development for WET RP effective September 15, 2020 through June 30, 2026 ($6,615,968); and
3. Approve and authorize the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health, or designee, as signatory on behalf of the Board of Supervisors on associated grant agreement documents, expenditure forms and reports, with no change to the compensation amount or term.
REPORT
Approval of the first two recommended actions will retroactively approve and authorize the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health’s, or designee’s, submission and electronic execution of the central region grant agreement with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, now operating under new name of California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI), for the workforce, education, and training allocation in the amount of $6,615,968. The term is consistent with the State grant award agreement template that is being used with the State’s five regions. Approval of the third recommended action will authorize the Director to sign all documents, expenditure forms and reports, with no change to the compensation amount or term, as required by HCAI to administer the recommended agreement. This item is countywide. It is also a regional collaborative effort.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION(S):
There are no viable alternative actions. Should your Board not approve the recommended actions, the Department and 19 other counties in the Central Region will not receive $6,615,968 in funding. Program activities have already started such as the central online application for Undergraduate Scholarships, Graduate Stipends, and Loan Repayment program awards that opened on October 4, 2021. The resources from this grant are designed to help address regional needs by strengthening recruitment, training, education, and retention of the Public Mental Health System (PMHS).
The county PMHS included under the Central RP are Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Placer, Sacramento, San Juaquin, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba counties.
RETROACTIVE AGREEMENT:
The application submission is retroactive to July 15, 2020 and agreement execution is retroactive to August 11, 2020. HCAI released notice of the FY 2020-2025 Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Workforce Education and Training (WET) grant application via electronic email to the Regional Partner Leads on April 30, 2020 with a submission deadline of July 15, 2020. The Department staff made a mistake and signed the agreement without going through the county approval process. It is now going to your Board to remedy the past unapproved action.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no increase in Net County Cost associated with the recommended actions. The RP funding formula and mechanism for allocating HCAI WET funds to RPs includes three components: $3 million base amount for each of the five regions of the state, $25 million distributed to the five regions based on county-level Fiscal Year 2019-20 DHCS MHSA Funding Distribution Schedule, and 33% local match that CA Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) will collect and distribute to regions and provide documentation to HCAI. The 33% local match from county behavioral health agencies are due by December 2024 and will be paid with MHSA dollars. Sufficient appropriations and estimated revenues were included in the Department’s Org 5630 FY 2020-21 Adopted Budget and the FY 2021-22 Adopted Budget.
The Central RP grant award amount is $6,615,968 and with the 33% match from RP local funds ($2,183,269), the total budget is $8,799,237. Fresno County will receive an allocation of $766,808 and with the 33% local match of $377,667, the 5-year funding totals to $1,144,475.
To date, DBH has received $5,623,572 (85%) of the Central RP grant award. On October 13, 2020, Installment one in the amount of $661,597 (ten percent) was received. Seventy percent ($4,631,177) was received on October 30, 2020 and five percent ($330,798) on November 23, 2020. An agreement between the Central Region and CalMHSA is needed to designate CalMHSA as third-party administrator and to transfer the received funds to them.
DISCUSSION:
The MHSA established the WET RPs. The former Department of Mental Health, in consultation with the California Mental Health Directors Association (now the County Behavioral Health Directors Association (CBHDA) created five RPs and designated the counties within each RP.
The five RPs are Superior, Central, Greater Bay Area. Southern, and Los Angeles (Los Angeles County) regions. The WET Plan outlines the programs under the domain of the RPs. These include pipeline approaches, scholarships, stipends, loan repayment, and retention strategies. HCAI has agreements with each of the RPs to implement one or more of these programs.
The purpose of the FY 2020-2025 MHSA WET Five-Year Plan (WET Plan) is to allow RPs to administer the “Supporting Individuals“ component with guidance from HCAI in designing and implementing their chosen WET programs in the counties of their respective regions. The WET Plan specifies five program categories: 1. Pipeline Program 2. Undergraduate Scholarship Program 3. Graduate Stipend Program 4. Loan Repayment Program, and 5. Retention Program. RPs can choose to implement any or all these programs. The counties within the Central Region will participate in one or all program activities. Fresno County DBH has decided to participate in Pipeline, Undergraduate College and University Scholarships, and Loan Repayment programs.
HCAI together with RP Leads designed a Central Application to serve as a public, uniform interface for scholarship, stipend, and loan repayment applicants, and a central repository of data for RPs to determine eligibility, evaluate applicants, and select awardees. The Central Application was opened up or released to the public on October 4, 2021.
Funds were allocated to RPs, with the Central Region receiving up to $6,615,968. A total of $8,595,832, inclusive of grant funding and county match from the Central Region counties, will support twenty county PMHS by strengthening recruitment, training, education, and retention of their workforce. Fresno County will receive an allocation of $766, 808 and the 33% local match of $377,667, the 5-year funding totals $1,144,475.
The grant agreement does not contain the County’s indemnification language nor has any insurance requirements. The County is the recipient of Grant funds and typically the State won’t modify their indemnification language and they aren’t requiring insurance, so it is acceptable to Risk.
The recommended application and agreement will act as the final agreement; the placeholder was submitted to meet the July 31, 2020 deadline. The recommended application / agreement contains language that allows the Director, or designee, to sign grant documents, expenditure forms, and reports on behalf of your Board over the term. Amendments to the grant agreement will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors for approval.
OTHER REVIEWING AGENCIES:
The Behavioral Health Board was notified of the submission and execution of a retroactive Agreement with the OSHPD WET RP Application and Agreement at the October 20, 2021 meeting.
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
On file with Clerk - Agreement
On file with Clerk - Grant Application
CAO ANALYST:
Yussel Zalapa