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Approve a first contract amendment with Solano County Office of Education for $734,152 through June 30, 2020, for a total contract amount of $904,152 to administer grants to support the implementation of Wellness Centers/Rooms on school campuses across the County; Authorize the County Administrator to execute the first contract amendment and any subsequent amendments not to exceed $75,000; and Approve an Appropriations Transfer Request (ATR) to transfer $734,152 in Mental Health Services Act revenue from Fund 906 to Fund 902 and increase appropriations for the amendment (4/5 vote required)
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Published Notice Required? Yes _____ No __X__
Public Hearing Required? Yes _____ No __X__
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Health and Social Services (H&SS) recommends that the Board approve a first contract amendment with Solano County Office of Education (SCOE) for $734,152 through June 30, 2020, for a total contract amount of $904,152 to administer grants to support the implementation of Wellness Centers/Rooms on school campuses across the County; authorize the County Administrator to execute the contract and any subsequent amendments not to exceed $75,000; and approve an Appropriations Transfer Request (ATR) to transfer $734,152 in Mental Health Services Act revenue from Fund 906 to Fund 902 and increase appropriations for the amendment (4/5 vote required).
SUMMARY:
The recommended first contract amendment provides services for the implementation of the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) Innovation (INN) and MHSA Reversion Plan for Innovation funds. With the passage of Assembly Bill 114 (AB 114) counties received notice that previously unspent MHSA funds that were subject to reversion to the State could be retained locally, within the originally intended funding category, upon timely development of a new plan for expenditure of the funds by June 30, 2020. INN funds were the only MHSA funds at risk of reversion in Solano County. Innovation funding to support the implementation of the Mental Health Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Cultural Transformation Model (ICCTM) was endorsed by the MHSA Steering Committee, stakeholders, and the Board of Supervisors as part of the MHSA Reversion Plan approved by the BOS on September 11, 2018.
INN funds may not be used to fund existing programs or even program models existing in other counties but not in place in Solano County. INN funds require the mental health system to implement innovative demonstration projects that will support system improvements, increase access to services for the underserved and unserved communities, and improve consumer outcomes. Furthermore, INN projects must be approved by the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) INN Committee before they can commence locally.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The first contract amendment adds $734,152 for a total contract amount of $904,152 to the Solano County Office of Education contract. The increase is funded by $530,000 in MHSA INN funds that, if not used by June 30, 2020 will revert to the State, and by $374,152 in MHSA PEI funding.
The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2019/20 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION:
MHSA programs address a broad continuum of prevention, early intervention and direct services along with the necessary infrastructure, technology and training elements to effectively support the mental health system. In FY2014/15, the Solano County Board of Supervisors and the California MHSOAC approved the County’s Innovation Component Plan to implement the Mental Health Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Cultural Transformation Model (ICCTM). The County partnered with the University of California, Davis, Center for Reducing Health Disparities (CRHD) to implement the ICCTM project which aims to increase culturally competent and linguistically appropriate services for Solano County-specific unserved and unserved populations with low mental health service utilization rates: Latino, Filipino and LGBTQ communities. This project includes three phases and the recommended first contract amendment is associated with the third phase of the project and the implementation of change initiatives. SCBH is the first county to design a multi-phase transformation project that combines the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards with community engagement in order to create a region-specific curriculum and quality improvement activities that are intended to create a system.
Phase 1 of the project included a comprehensive cultural health assessment of the local community that included the collection of qualitative data captured through key informant interviews, focus groups, community forums, organizational surveys as well quantitative service data pulled from the County’s electronic health record system.
Phase 2 of the project included the facilitation of the three CLAS Training cohorts specific to the mental health needs of Solano County. Collectively, the CLAS cohorts were comprised of 51 community stakeholders. The training cohorts developed quality improvement (QI) action plans geared to address barriers in the system of care that contribute to poor access and the underutilization of services by underserved communities.
Phase 3 of the project is underway and focuses on the coordination, implementation, and evaluation of the QI action plans. This contract represents one of the QI action plans: “Taking CLAS to the Streets,” that is designed to increase mental health services and supports in schools through the creation of mental health wellness centers/rooms in schools throughout Solano County. These wellness centers/rooms will provide a variety of educational materials on mental health, stigma reduction, suicide prevention, substance abuse prevention, and general wellness to prevent the development of serious behavioral health conditions. Addressing the mental health needs of students is expected to result in improved attendance and academics, a reduction in discipline issues, and a reduction in students experiencing crises on school campuses resulting in a recent increase in students being placed on a Welfare and Institutions (WIC) 5150 by local law enforcement.
SCOE has demonstrated effective strategies in garnering participation from school districts/sites, solicitating community input, developing multi-sector partnerships, and in developing sustainability planning efforts. SCOE has demonstrated a financial commitment by securing several grants to be leveraged for the initiative. Each school district or site will be responsible to assure that the proposed centers identify usable and sustainable space(s) for a wellness centers/rooms, provide staffing to support the centers/rooms, and identify an infrastructure to refer and link students that need more intensive services beyond what will be provided at the wellness centers/rooms.
SCOE, in partnership with Behavioral Health, seeks to open 20 to 25 wellness centers by June 30, 2020. This amendment and the increased funding will support SCOE in conducting outreach to districts; providing technical assistance to plan and implement wellness centers/rooms; organizing and facilitating focus groups with students, parents and school personnel for each site requesting a wellness center/room; and overseeing the distribution of funds through an interactive grant process which will largely be used to purchase the furnishings, supplies, stigma reduction and suicide prevention materials, therapeutic games, and trainings for support school staff.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board may choose not to approve the first contract amendment with SCOE or the ATR. This is not recommended as this would result in local school districts not being adequately positioned to implement wellness center/rooms on school sites across the county resulting in continued stigma, increased risk for the development of more serious mental health conditions and an increased risk of suicide for students in both K-12 and adult education schools. Additionally, this action plan focused on student mental health was created through the INN Plan process which was approved by the Board of Supervisors and will enable the County to use MHSA INN funds locally rather than having them revert to the State. The funds will revert to the State if not expended in accordance with the approved plan by June 30, 2020.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The implementation of wellness centers/rooms on school sites across Solano County was developed by team members representing SCOE, Adult Education Consortium, and Fairfield Suisun Unified School District. Solano Youth Voices - a youth leadership council - facilitated youth focus groups for pilot wellness centers and will partner with SCOE to conduct youth focus groups for future wellness center sites. Additional partners include the local school districts, Solano County Public Health, Substance Use Disorder programs, Solano Pride Center, as well as other community-based organizations that will provide support for the wellness centers through education and trainings.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENT RECOMMENTATION