LA County Board

2. Strengthening Bridge Housing Resources Through the Behavioral Health\nBridge Housing Program for People Experiencing Homelessness Living\nwith Serious Behavioral Health Conditions\nRecommendation as submitted by Supervisors Hahn and Barger: Authorize the\nDirector of Mental Health to accept up to $259,280,749 and the Director of\nPublic Health to accept up to $61,908,489, for a total of up to $321,189,238,\nand any additional funds that may be applied for and awarded by the State\nthrough its third-party administrator, Advocates for Human Potential (AHP), and\nnegotiate and execute contracts with AHP for Behavioral Health Bridge Housing\n(BHBH) Program funds to increase bridge housing beds and services for\npeople with serious behavioral health conditions experiencing homelessness;\nand authorize the Directors of Mental Health and Public Health to take the\nfollowing actions:\nNegotiate and execute new agreements for the provisions of BHBH\nprograms and related services in an equitable manner including, but not\nlimited to, direct work order contracts and/or amendments with existing\nproviders, and use existing master agreements, such as the Supportive\nand/or Housing Master Agreements list, to find qualified bridge housing\noperators, grant additional authority to amend the agreements as detailed\nabove to revise agreement language; add, delete, modify, or replace\nBHBH statements of work and make corresponding funding changes;\nextend agreement terms and/or increase or decrease contract amounts;\nallow for the rollover of unspent funds; and/or reflect Federal, State, and\nCounty regulatory and/or policy changes, provided such actions do not\nexceed BHBH funding awarded by the State and approved by the Board\nto deliver BHBH services, including infrastructure costs, which may\ninclude capital purchases;\nTerminate the BHBH contracts in accordance with the termination\nprovisions set forth in the contracts;\nWork with the Chief Executive Officer to review the BHBH Program plan,\nand as necessary through existing, available financial resources to\nsustain programming, allocate the necessary clinical, administrative, and\nprogrammatic items needed to implement the BHBH Program, including\ntaking any steps needed to allow the Departments to immediately and\nsuccessfully recruit and hire for these positions, including, but not limited\nto, using existing delegated authority from the Homeless Emergency\nResponse and, if necessary, providing additional delegated authority to\nthe Directors of Mental Health and Public Health for ordinance position\nauthority and special step placements for a period to be determined by\nthe Chief Executive Officer, approving job-related specialty exams that\nrecognize relevant expertise and lived experience, and immediately\nidentifying and hiring a manager (and/or clinical and support team\nmembers) dedicated to BHBH Program implementation and starting the\nprocess to identify and hire additional staff;\nEnter into non-monetary agreements (including memoranda of\nunderstanding and data use agreements) to facilitate the communication\nand information exchange needed to comply with legislative mandates for\nservice coordination, outcome reporting, and financial reimbursement of\nCounty services rendered to participants of the BHBH Program and the\nCommunity Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court;\nand\nIn consultation with the Chief Executive Officer, report back to the Board\nin writing on progress achieved on the items listed above on the same\nschedule and within the report back for CARE Court updates. (23-2524)\nAttachments: Motion by Supervisors Hahn and Barger\nPublic Comment/Correspondence