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Approve a second contract amendment with Seneca Family of Agencies for $199,172 for a total contract amount of $1,386,525 to provide Transition Age Youth Full Service Partnership services for high-risk, transition-aged youth ages 16-25, including Commercially Sexually Exploited Children/Youth (CSEC) ages 10-25, for the period July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020; Authorize the County Administrator to execute the amendment; and Approve an Appropriations Transfer Request (ATR) for $332,866 to recognize revenue and related appropriations for this contract 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 of Supervisors approve a second contract amendment with Seneca Family of Agencies for $199,172 for a total contract amount of $1,386,525 to provide Transition Age Youth Full Service Partnership services for high-risk, transition-aged youth, ages 16-25, including Commercially Sexually Exploited Children/Youth (CSEC) ages 10-25 for the period July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020; authorize the County Administrator to execute the amendment; and approve an Appropriations Transfer Request (ATR) for $332,866 to recognize revenue and related appropriations for this contract amendment (4/5 vote required).
SUMMARY:
Implementation of Solano County’s Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) current Integrated Three-Year Program Plan began in FY2017/18 and includes Full Service Partnership (FSP) intensive mental health services for individuals of all ages with severe mental health conditions, including high risk transition aged youth (TAY) and Commercially Sexually Exploited Children/Youth (CSEC) consumers. As awareness about the issue of CSEC increases in the community, the number of children/youth identified as needing intensive mental health services has increased. The proposed contract amendment with Seneca will provide an increase in capacity to serve more high-risk, transition-aged youth diagnosed with a severe mental illness including the CSEC population.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The second amendment of $199,172 will increase the total contract amount to $1,386,525 for the contract term July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. MHSA Community Services and Supports revenue (CSS) and Short Doyle Medi-Cal revenues will fund the contract amendment. As appropriations for this amendment are not included in the FY2019/20 Adopted Budget, an ATR for $332,866 is needed to appropriate expenditures and recognize associated revenues (4/5 vote required). There is no impact to the County General Fund.
DISCUSSION:
On June 25, 2019, the Board approved a contract with Seneca Family of Agencies (Seneca) for $1,187,353 to provide the Transition Age Youth (TAY) Full Service Partnership (FSP) services for Solano County for the FY2019/20. The contract serves youth ages 16-25 who have been diagnosed with a severe mental illness and require intensive mental health services. In addition to serving TAY age group, the contract includes FSP-level services for the Commercially Sexually Exploited Children/Youth (CSEC) specialty population ages 10-25.
FSP services are provided to consumers through a multi-disciplinary team of mental health clinicians, mental health support counselors, psychiatrists, a peer/family support counselor, and a CSEC survivor/mentor for CSEC consumers. FSP-level services are provided to individuals with a severe mental health condition at risk of hospitalization, homelessness, involvement with the criminal justice system, and/or child welfare. The TAY FSP program is outlined in the Solano County MHSA Integrated Three-Year Plan for FY2017/18 through FY2019/20 approved by the Board of Supervisors on January 24, 2017. The contract expansion to serve CSEC children/youth is included in the FY2017/18 MHSA Annual Update.
The first Seneca contract amendment included a language amendment on the billing codes to facilitate accurate billing of services to the consumers. The proposed second amendment includes an increase of $199,172 to support additional direct service staff and increase capacity to serve more consumers.
Seneca utilizes the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) and Adult Needs and Strengths Assessment (ANSA) as primary assessment tools guiding treatment planning and measuring clinical progress. These tools have helped Seneca in tracking consumers’ progress from initial assessment to discharge. In FY2017/18, Seneca served 30 consumers of which twelve (12) were identified as CSEC, including 9 who were ages 12-17. In FY2018/19 Seneca served 50 consumers, 24 which were CSEC, including 15 who were ages 10-15. The proposed amendment will position the program to increase staffing to increase capacity to treat more consumers. During FY2018/19, Seneca successfully achieved the following annual performance outcomes:
• Seneca’s FSP program met its goal of having a less than 25% psychiatric hospitalization rate for consumers who were hospitalized within six (6) months prior to admission to the program.
• 75% of consumers achieved or partially achieved a treatment goal as measured by improved scores on the CANS and/or ANSA tool/s administered at admission, at the six-month mark, and/or at discharge.
• 88% of consumers achieved and/or maintained stable housing, surpassing the contract goal of 70%.
• 64% of consumers measured with a skills-based assessment tool demonstrated improved knowledge and skills related to independent living skills.
For the first quarter of the FY2019/20 contract, Seneca has served a total of 33 consumers with an annual goal to serve 40-60 consumers. Another notable success for the first quarter is that 100% of the consumers are currently sheltered and housed, significantly reducing the risk of the youth becoming homeless during and after the program interventions.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board may choose not to approve the second amendment with Seneca. This is not recommended as it would prevent the County from completing program requirements established in the MHSA Integrated Three-Year Plan and meeting the legal mandates to provide FSP-level services for high risk populations at greater risk of homelessness, hospitalization, and involvement with the criminal justice and child welfare systems. Not providing intensive FSP-level services for the TAY and CSEC populations will result in increased risk of youth being victimized or further victimized.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Solano County MHSA Integrated Three-Year Plan for FY2017/18 through FY2019/20, and subsequent Annual Updates, have been developed in collaboration with community stakeholders including consumers, family members, County and community-based providers, law enforcement, local educational agencies, veterans, faith-based organizations, and the local Mental Health Advisory Board. Community stakeholders and the MHSA Steering Committee endorsed continuing to fund the TAY FSP program and specialized services for the CSEC population. Additionally, the Seneca program works closely with Child Welfare Services and Juvenile Probation to provide intensive treatment services for CSEC consumers.
County Counsel has reviewed the contract amendment for legal sufficiency.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION