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Accept the California Department of Health Care Services award letter approving $2,267,515 of Supplemental Substance Abuse Block Grant funding for period through FY2024/25 for Solano County; Authorize the County Administrator to execute the associated revenue contract, subject to County Counsel concurrence, with the California Department of Health Care Services upon receipt; Approve a service contract with Aldea, Inc. for $336,736 to develop a substance use disorder program for youth and adolescents from February 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023; Approve three Substance Abuse Prevention contracts for the period February 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022 for a total of $243,377 with Solano Office of Education, Touro University, and Brown Miller Communications to provide outreach and education activities; Approve a first contract amendment with Solano County Office of Education for $36,222 for a total contract amount of $92,907 to develop and coordinate a Friday Night Live youth peer mentorship program for the current period through June 30, 2022; and Delegate authority to the County Administrator, with County Counsel concurrence, to execute the contracts and any amendments up to an aggregate of $74,999
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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 of Supervisors accept the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) award letter approving $2,267,515 of Supplemental Substance Abuse Block Grant (SABG) funding for period through FY2024/25 for Solano County; Authorize the County Administrator to execute the associated revenue contract, subject to County Counsel concurrence, with the California Department of Health Care Services upon receipt; Approve a service contract with Aldea, Inc. for $336,736 to develop a substance use disorder program for youth and adolescents from February 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023; Approve three Substance Abuse Prevention contracts for the period February 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022 for a total of $243,377 with Solano County Office of Education, Touro University, and Brown Miller Communications to provide outreach and education activities; Approve a first contract amendment with Solano County Office of Education for $36,222 for a total contract amount of $92,907 to develop and coordinate a Friday Night Live youth peer mentorship program for the current period through June 30, 2022; and Delegate authority to the County Administrator, with County Counsel concurrence, to execute the contracts and any amendments up to an aggregate of $74,999.
SUMMARY:
Solano County annually receives the Substance Abuse Block Grant (SABG) to support prevention and treatment and recovery support services. For FY2021/22, Solano County received a supplemental award letter from the DHCS (dated January 7, 2022) approving $2,468,379 for planned programming which includes prevention, outreach, and treatment activities not funded by Medi-Cal. The “supplemental SABG funds” are additional funds made available to counties through the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) with $1,126,198 from federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) to be expended between July 1, 2021 and December 31, 2022 and the remaining $1,141,317 from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) which can be expended September 1, 2021 through June 30, 2025.
DHCS defined the amount allocated to each county and has approved the Solano County’s Plan for the disbursement of these funds in the timeframes described. DHCS recently issued a notice allowing funds allocated to the first year to also be spent in the second year, given delays at the State level in issuing approval letters and contracts. At this time, the State has issued a “final approval notice” but has not yet issued the corresponding revenue contract. The State indicated in its approval letter (Attachment A) that CRRSAA funds may be retroactive to July 1, 2021 and ARPA funds may be retroactive to September 1, 2021.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
CRRSAA and ARPA SABG revenue will fund the agreements with no impact to the County General Fund. Appropriations are available in the FY2021/22 Working Budget for costs this fiscal year and the remainder of funds will be included in the department’s FY2022/23 Requested Budget.
DISCUSSION:
The “supplemental SABG funds” are additional funds made available to counties through the Department of Health Care Services. These funds will support prevention and treatment, and recovery support services, including recovery housing support. These additional SABG funds will be used to provide programming and services that otherwise would not be available to the community.
Discretionary Allocation and Adolescent Set-Aside
Solano County has long needed a substance use disorder program for youth and adolescents. Using the discretionary allocation and adolescent set-aside, the County intends to execute a contract with Aldea, Inc. to develop such a program. This contract will fund the start-up of the program while working to develop an appropriate caseload that may ultimately be sustained through Medi-Cal reimbursement through the Organized Delivery System and State reimbursement through their subcontract with Partnership HealthPlan. This contract will cover costs that are not reimbursed by Medi-Cal while the program advertises, conducts outreach, develops referral sources, and engages youth in treatment. The County’s contracted providers have historically never received youth referrals in consistent volume to create a program scale that can be funded through Medi-Cal, and this youth program is much needed locally. These SABG funds will enable the contract agency to address historical barriers so that a functional and sustainable program can be developed and maintained in Solano County, ultimately entirely funded through Medi-Cal.
Prevention and Friday Night Live
Prevention contracts are designed to prevent substance use among youth, and the supplemental SABG funds provide an opportunity to strengthen those activities and expand efforts to include opioid related prevention. A contract with the Solano County Office of Education (SCOE) will provide youth events and workshops designed to build youth leadership skills, civic engagement skills, and substance use prevention knowledge and resilience. Additionally, a contract amendment to increase SCOE’s Friday Night Live contract will enable the program to develop and coordinate a youth peer mentorship program.
With a new prevention contract, Touro University’s Drug Safe Solano Program will develop an opioid prevention campaign geared toward medical professionals, provide opioid prevention workshops and trainings for youth, and enable Drug Safe Solano participation in other Public Health prevention multi-media campaigns and prevention activities. Part of the prevention allocation will also fund a contract with Brown Miller Communications to develop and disseminate an opioid prevention campaign focused on at-risk populations to decrease opioid overdoses and opioid related deaths.
Recovery Housing support (sober living homes or facilities) is a new category in the SABG funding classifications. Historically recovery housing has been an acceptable expense in the discretionary allocation, which is historically the largest component and is used for treatment and treatment supports. The County already has contracts executed for Opportunity House and Shelter Solano for this purpose and, in addition, assists clients with their rent in smaller sober living homes. These contracts may warrant expansion as their utilization is monitored over time.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board may choose not to approve these contracts; however, the contracts are fully funded with federal funds disbursed through the State DHCS and provide expanded services in both prevention and treatment.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Services are provided in collaboration with multiple community-based agencies under contract with Solano County.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION