MEETING DATE: 5/24/2022
DEPARTMENT: BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
DEPT HEAD/DIRECTOR: Ray Espinosa
AGENDA ITEM PREPARER: Jazmin Williams
SBC DEPT FILE NUMBER: 810
SUBJECT:
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH – R. ESPINOSA
Approve Contract Renewal with Crisis Support Services of Alameda County, for FY 22-23 State Mandated Requirement for After Hours 24/7 Live Phone Response in the amount of $71,400.00.
SBC FILE NUMBER: 810
AGENDA SECTION:
CONSENT AGENDA
BACKGROUND/SUMMARY:
As per the State Department of Health Care Services, the Behavioral Health Department is the designated Medi-Cal, Managed Care Plan Administrator for Mental Health Services. As such we are required to provide twenty-four-hours a day, seven-days per week (24/7) accessibility to crisis services for Medi-Cal beneficiaries. Initial telephone screening response to individuals who are contacting our crisis line must be through live person communication. Crisis Support Services of Alameda County has the experience and capacity to provide telephone triage response and linkage to our on-call staff during the hours that the clinic is not open to the public. A significant added component gained by utilizing Crisis Support Services of Alameda County is the contractor’s utilization of professional level Mental Health staff that provide over the phone crisis intervention and de-escalation (stabilization) services. County Behavioral Health on-call staff are contacted by Crisis Support Services of Alameda County staff in the event that a caller cannot be stabilized at that level of intervention provided by this contractor.
This contractor averages about 180 calls per month or 2,160 calls per year, with 41% of those calls coming from clients after hours. In FY 20-21, most of the contractor's calls scored a level 1 suicide risk which means that the individual has suicidal thoughts or feelings but has no plan or means to enact a plan. This allows for the trained counselor on the line to be able to provide counseling service to de-escalate these types of calls and assist the individual in developing a safety plan for themselves or getting in contact with San Benito County Behavioral Health for further services.
RESOLUTION OR ORDINANCE NEEDED FOR THIS ITEM:
No
CONTRACT NEEDED FOR THIS ITEM:
Yes
CONTRACT AND RFP HISTORY:
There have been 7 contracts between SBCBH and CRISIS SUPPORT SERVICES OF ALAMEDA COUNTY.
Based on the BOS presentation from January 25, 2022, this contractor provides services for various bay area counties and their services are not advisable for RFP as the service is considered specialized. This contractor uses professional level mental health staff to provide over the phone crisis intervention and stabilization services after hours and during holidays when Behavioral Health staff is not in the office. In addition, this phone service also has the ability to connect to an on-call clinician should the need arise.
LAST CONTRACT AMOUNT OR N/A:
$61,500.00
STATE IF THIS IS A NEW CONTRACT/ HOW MANY PAST AMENDED CONTRACTS/ OR N/A:
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS:
BUDGETED:
Yes
Budget Adjustment Needed: No
Unfunded Mandate (Is this a mandate not funded by the State): No