Authorize the Chair to execute an agreement with Victor Community Support Services to provide K-12 School Partnership services to the Woodland Joint Unified School District in compliance with the new California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative in an amount not-to-exceed $500,000 for the period of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. (No general fund impact) (Sullivan)

On or about March 28, 2023, the County issued formal request for proposal (RFP) Yolo County K-12 School Partnership Services for Woodland Joint Unified School District. (See details in the Competitive Bid Process section, below.)  The Yolo County K-12 School Partnership Program works to expand the historically more limited array of services and supports available to students and to integrate mental health services into the school systems by utilizing an integrated systems model and multi-tiered systems of support. The goal of this integrated approach is to blend resources, training, systems, data, and practices to improve outcomes for all children and youth. The program also emphasizes, prevention, early identification, and intervention of the social, emotional, and behavior needs of students, as well as supports outcomes around preventing the development of mental health challenges in children of all ages, improved linkages to mental health services for children and their families, improved mental health wellness, school engagement, and personal, social, and community stability. The primary goal is to ensure that all school-age youth in Yolo County can access mental health services in a safe, comfortable environment that is familiar to them through an improved school-based service delivery system.

California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Initiative
In January 2022, California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) rolled out the CalAIM initiative that aims to provide broad delivery system program and payment reform across the Medi-Cal system. The goal is transformation of the Medi-Cal delivery system, moving it towards a population health approach that prioritizes prevention and whole person care. Focus shifts from compliance to quality and performance metrics. Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS) requirements and policies pursuant to the CalAIM initiative were updated, and as a result of these updates, the County is required to revise the terms and conditions in the provider agreements for these services.  In preparation for this system wide change, the County has been working closely with CalMHSA who has been providing the County and other SMHS Medi-Cal counties with technical assistance around the CalAIM initiative. The County has received new boilerplate templates from CalMHSA for both DMC/SUD treatment services and SMHS Medi-Cal services that include updated programmatic regulatory requirements and updated billing/claiming requirements. County is working on finalizing a new Yolo County SMHS Medi-Cal boilerplate that is in compliance with these changes, a draft of which is attached hereto as Att. A. Draft Yolo County SMHS boilerplate.

The agreement requested in this staff report will be drafted and executed on the finalized Yolo County SMHS boilerplate. County Counsel and the Procurement Division are participating in the review and finalization of the Yolo County SMHS boilerplate. However, due to the timeliness in which the County has been receiving information from DHCS, especially regarding rates, final boilerplate language is still pending.  Approval of this request herein will enable HHSA to expedite processing and approval of the agreement to minimize any lapse in services once we have all of the information from DHCS and have negotiated final rates with our providers.

HHSA requests BOS approval of a one-year agreement with Victor Community Support Services to provide K-12 School Partnership services to the Woodland Joint Unified School District not-to-exceed $500,000 for the period of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024, and delegated signing authority to the Yolo County Board Chair to assist with expediting execution of the agreement. While the RFP allows for a multi-year agreement, future years will not be included in the agreement at this time. County Counsel and the Procurement Division are working on updating the County long form contract boilerplate that will be forthcoming sometime in FY 2023-24. County Counsel and the Procurement Division request any extensions beyond June 30, 2024 are drafted on the updated County long form contract boilerplate.

Performance Measures
The Performance Measures associated with this Agreement will be included in the resulting provider Agreement.

County Counsel - review and approval of the Yolo County SMHS boilerplate
County Counsel - review and approval of the resulting agreement as to form
Department of General Services, Procurement Division
CalMHSA - technical assistance with CalAIM Initiative

On March 28, 2023, the County issued a competitive solicitation via the RFP for Yolo County K-12 School Partnership Services for Woodland Joint Unified School District. The solicitation was open for 5 weeks. On April 4, 2023, DGS and HHSA offered potential bidders an opportunity to ask questions during a bidder’s conference. 

The County received 2 proposal(s) from this solicitation. The County reviewed the proposal for minimum requirements and 2 proposals were moved forward to the Review Committee, comprised of one (1) HHSA staff, one (1)  HHSA technical expert and two (2) community stakeholders.

The Review Committee evaluated the proposals and determined that the proposal submitted by Victor Community Support Services met all the required qualifications necessary to successfully provide these services.  In May 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