To: Board of Supervisors
From: Dr. Grant Colfax, Health Services Director
Report Title: Contract #25-089-6 with Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc. (dba Heluna Health)
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Health Services Director, or designee, to execute on behalf of the County Contract #25-089-6 with Public Health Foundation Enterprises (dba Heluna Health), a non-profit corporation, in an amount not to exceed $8,870,818, to provide Coordinated Entry, Outreach, Referral and Engagement (CORE) services for chronically homeless individuals in Contra Costa County, for the period from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This Contract will result in annual contractual service expenditures of up to $8,870,818 funded by 60% State Funds, 37% Local Grants and 3% Federal funds.
BACKGROUND:
This Contract meets the social needs of county’s population by providing CORE services to homeless individuals in Contra Costa County. CORE provides outreach services and serves as an entry point into the County’s coordinated entry system (CES) for unsheltered persons and work to locate, engage, stabilize and house chronically homeless individuals. Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc. has been providing CORE services to the County under this agreement since October 1, 2020. This Contractor has a long-standing relationship with Contra Costa County and has routinely demonstrated specialized expertise in providing full scope Human Resources to employees operating under Health, Housing and Homeless Services. This includes services provided to Emergency Shelters, Transitional Housing Programs, CORE, Coordinated Entry (CE), Continuum of Care (CoC), and Research and Evaluation programs provided to individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Contractor understands the needs of the County has knowledge and experience with the complex nature of what it takes to staff street outreach services with individuals sufficient to meet contractual obligations and ensure appropriate staff to client ratios.
This Contract is entered into under and subject to the following legal authorities: California Government Code § 26227 and 31000. This Contract was approved by Health Services Personnel to ensure there is no conflict with labor relations. The Health, Housing and Homeless Services Division Contract Monitoring staff meet on a regular basis to ensure monitoring of performance measures set forth in the Contract are upheld. This Contractor was selected through County’s Request for Proposal (RFP) process on March 27, 2025.
On December 3, 2024, the Board of Supervisors approved Contract #25-089-4 with Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc. (dba Heluna Health), in an amount not to exceed $6,729,762 to provide CORE services for chronically homeless individuals in Contra Costa County for the period July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
On June 24, 2025, the Board of Supervisors approved Contract Amendment #25-0890-5 with Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc. (dba Heluna Health), to increase the payment limit by $201,894 to a new payment limit of $6,931,656 to reimburse the Contractor for maintaining a vehicle fleet for staff to provide Coordinated Entry, Outreach, Referral and Engagement services for chronically homeless individuals in Contra Costa County with no change in the term.
Approval of Contract #25-089-6 will allow the Contractor to continue to provide CORE services through June 30, 2026. This Contract was delayed due to extended negotiation between the Division and Contractor and by labor unions requesting to meet and confer. The County has met its obligations with the respective labor partner(s).
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If this Contract is not approved, County will lack adequate capacity to provide outreach and shelter placement to homeless individuals and they will experience longer wait times for shelter and respite services.