COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Health Services Agency

DATE:

February 9, 2004

BOARD MEETING DATE:

February 24, 2004

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Margaret Taylor, Director of Health Services

Gale Bataille, Director of Mental Health Services

SUBJECT:

Memorandum of Understanding with the San Mateo County Office of Education

Recommendation

Adopt a resolution authorizing the President of the Board to execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the San Mateo County Office of Education to transfer $1,826,855 to the Health Services Agency's Mental Health Division to partially fund federally mandated mental health services to special education students.

Background

Assembly Bill 3632 et. seq. (Chapter 1747 Statutes of 1984) requires county mental health agencies to provide mental health services to special education pupils as specified in each student's Individual Education Plan. On a statewide basis, these services cost in excess of $120 million. The cost in San Mateo County is approximately $5 million per year. The State has failed to provide adequate or appropriate funding for these federally mandated education services since the program inception. For over a decade State funding for these services has primarily been provided through the State Mandate Claim process (SB 90).

Discussion

In FY 2002-03, Governor Davis eliminated all but $1,000 in statewide funding for the AB 3632 program. No compensation for the AB 3632 program was received from the State through the SB 90 mandate claim process. As the result of an intense advocacy effort, strong support in the legislature, and a lawsuit by Tuolumne County, the Governor subsequently allocated $69 million of the State's federal funding of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act for the AB 3632 program to be used exclusively for services provided during the 2003-04 fiscal year. $54 million of that $69 million allocation was transferred from the State Department of Education to county offices of education for the purpose of funding each county's AB 3632 program. The remainder of the funding will be transferred to the State Department of Mental Health (DMH) to be allocated to each county's mental health services program through DMH Performance Agreements.

This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) provides for the transfer of the State Department of Education allocation for the San Mateo County Office of Education to Mental Health Services. This allocation is $1,826,855. Mental Health Services is required to provide service and financial data to the San Mateo County Office of Education to substantiate expenditures for the AB 3632 program.

The language of this MOU was developed by the State Department of Education to be implemented Statewide. This MOU has been reviewed and approved by San Mateo County Counsel.

Vision Alignment

This MOU with the San Mateo County Office of Education keeps the commitment to Ensure Basic Health and Safety for All and goal number 8: Help vulnerable people-the aged, disabled, mentally ill, at risk youth, and others- achieve a better quality of life. The MOU contributes to this commitment and goal by providing mental health services to special education pupils.

Fiscal Impact

The total cost for services provided to special education students is about $5,000,000 for FY 2003-04. An estimated $2,000,000 will be offset through Medi-Cal EPSDT and other funding, leaving a net annual cost of approximately $3,000,000.

The total State allocation for these services is $2,008,261. This includes the County Office of Education grant award of $1,826,855 and the State DMH allocation of $181,406. This total amount will be added as revenue to the MH 2003-04 budget in a mid-year countywide ATR. The remaining estimated $1,000,000 is the net county cost.