To: Board of Supervisors
From: Dr. Grant Colfax, Health Services Director
Report Title: Agreement #78-107 with the California Department of Health Care Services
☒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 Standard Agreement #78-107 (State #25-50252) with the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), to allow the County the rights to use DHCS property and vehicles for the County's mobile crisis program, A3 (Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere), to provide outreach and crisis response services to individuals in Contra Costa County, for the period July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2031.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This is a non-financial Agreement.
BACKGROUND:
This Agreement will provide County with the rights to use the California Department of Health Care Services (“DHCS”) property and vehicles to serve individuals in crisis located in Martinez. DHCS oversees the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) pursuant to Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code §§5960-5960.4. DHCS established the BHCIP Round 1 Grants to award competitive grants to qualified entities to support behavioral health mobile crisis and non-crisis services, and to fund Crisis Care Mobile Units (CCMU).
DHCS awarded the County a BHCIP Round 1 grant to purchase vehicles necessary for CCMU teams to reach and serve individuals in crisis in Contra Costa County and to operate the vehicles for their intended purposes as identified in the grant application. DHCS retains full ownership of the vehicles, and the Grantee holds only a leasehold interest in the vehicles for use as specified in this Agreement.
As part of DHCS’s grant award to the County, the County entered into Contract #78-103, AHP-21-10349 (“Prime Contract”), with Advocates for Human Potential (AHP), who is acting as DHCS’s agent to administer Round 1 grants, to undertake the Grantee’s purchase of CCMU vehicles. This Agreement between DHCS and County provides additional obligations the County has to DHCS as a condition of receiving all funds, keeping vehicles purchased with grant funds under the Grantee’s contract with AHP, and in order to comply with the requirements of the statutes governing BHCIP and the State General Funds (SGF). DHCS will not be held responsible or liable for replacing, removing, or repairing vehicles purchased using said grant funds.
Approval of Agreement #78-107 will allow County to utilize DHCS property and vehicles to provide outreach and crisis response services to individuals in Contra Costa County for the period July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2031. This Agreement includes an indemnity provision which requires the County to defend, indemnify, and hold the State harmless from any claims arising out of the County’s performance under the Agreement. This Agreement was delayed due to ongoing discussions between the County and DHCS to determine the most appropriate course of action for allowing the County to use DHCS vehicles in providing essential crisis response services.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If this Agreement is not approved, the County will not be allowed to utilize DHCS property and vehicles, which may delay A3 crisis response services to individuals experiencing a crisis.