Approve first amendment to Agreement No. 23-80 with Communicare OLE to add funding in the amount of $95,989 for fiscal year 2023-24 and to remove funding for fiscal year 2024-25, for a new contract maximum of $536,975.33, for the period of May 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, for the provision of CalWORKs Mental Health services. (No general fund impact) (Sullivan)

California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) is a state-wide welfare program that gives cash and services to eligible needy California families. Part of that program is the comprehensive statewide employment and training CalWORKs Employment Services program (CWES Program). The CWES Program provides services to CalWORKs families to help remove barriers to employment. Services may include mental health services in an effort to remove barriers to employment for families and to support family stabilization through the public assistance to work transition. The County has a mandate from the California Department of Social Services to implement the CWES Program through fiscal year 2023-24. The state is no longer funding the mental health portion (CalWORKS Mental Health) of the CWES Program in fiscal year 2024-25.

On or about April 18, 2023, the County and CommuniCare Health Centers entered into Agreement No. 23-80 (“Agreement No. 23-80”) for the provision of CalWORKs Mental Health services. Agreement No. 23-80 provided the County with several optional extensions for future fiscal years (i.e fiscal years 2024-25; 2025-26; 2026-27; and 2027-28).  

On or about October 24, 2023, the County, CommuniCare Health Centers, and OLE Health entered into a Consent to Assignment, formally assigning the rights and obligations under Agreement 23-80 from CommuniCare Health Centers to OLE Health dba CommuniCare OLE, effective October 1, 2023.

Subsequently, the County received notice that its allocation for fiscal year 2023-24 was increased. On or about May 7, 2024, the County exercised its optional extension for fiscal year 2024-25, extending the term of Agreement No. 23-80 through June 30, 2025 and adding funding in the amount of $377,913 since funding for this program had been historically reliable. However, the State budget eliminated funding for this program for fiscal year 2024-25, as such this first amendment modifies the term so that Agreement No. 23-80 will terminate effective June 30, 2024, reduces the contract budget for fiscal year 2024-25 to $0, and removes all future option years from the agreement. Due to the claiming deadlines for fiscal year 2023-24 for this cash basis allocation, the Department and the Procurement Manager conferred a proceeded with execution of the first amendment to ensure funding was available for the remaining fiscal year 2023-24 claims and that claims could be processed in time to meet fiscal year-end deadlines.

Performance Measures included in this Agreement are as follows:
The Performance Measures were included in the underlying Agreement and are not being revised at this time.

County Counsel will approve the final first amendment as to form.
General Services Department, Procurement Division

On November 3, 2022, the County via the Department of General Services, Procurement Division (GSD-Procurement) issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) on behalf of the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) for Mental Health Services for California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids Employment Services (CWES) clients. The solicitation was open for 62 days (just over 9 weeks). On December 13, 2022, DGS and HHSA offered potential bidders an opportunity to ask questions during a bidder’s conference. The County received 1 proposal from this solicitation. GSD-Procurement reviewed the proposal for minimum requirements and moved the proposal forward to the Review Committee, comprised of 3 HHSA staff.  The Review Committee evaluated the proposal submitted by CommuniCare Health Centers and determined it met all the required qualifications necessary to successfully provide these services.  On March 8, 2023 the County issued an Intent to Award letter. Additional information regarding the Competitive Bid Process is provided below, including a summary of the solicitation evaluation criteria.

Evaluation Criteria Included in RFP

Bids Received

Vendor Performance
HSHA confirms CommuniCare OLE has performed satisfactorily under Agreement No. 23-80.