COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Health Department

 

DATE:

April 20, 2007

BOARD MEETING DATE:

May 1, 2007

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

   

FROM:

Charlene A. Silva, Director of Health

 

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 $1,979,619 to the Health Department’s Mental Health Division to partially fund federally mandated mental health services to special education students for the term July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008.

 

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Commitment: Ensure basic Health and Safety for all.

Goal 8: Help vulnerable people—the aged, disabled, mentally ill, at-risk youth and others—achieve a better quality of life.

 

This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the San Mateo County Office of Education contributes to this commitment and goal by providing funding for mental health services to special education pupils to maintain youth in the lowest level of care, which contributes to decreasing out-of-home placements.

 

Performance Measure:

Measure

    FY 2006-07
    Estimate

    FY 2007-08
    Projected

Average monthly census of out-of-home placements at the group home level by Mental Health

8

10

 

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. In June 2005 your Board directed County Counsel and Mental Health Services to negotiate a local agreement with the County Office of Education (COE) and local school districts to mitigate County financial risk and ensure continuity of care for emotionally disturbed special education youth. Subsequently, in 2006 AB 1807 was passed by the legislature and signed into law to address ongoing statewide legal and financial issues related to the AB 3632 program. AB 1807 requires the development of a statewide MOU template by the State Departments of Mental Health and Education, with input from the California Mental Health Directors Association and the Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs). These State and local entities have developed a MOU template which provides for local COEs to transfer their allocations of Federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding (IDEA) to their local county mental health services agencies.

 

DISCUSSION:

This MOU provides for the transfer of the IDEA allocation for San Mateo County from the COE to Mental Health Services in the amount of $1,979,619. Mental Health Services is required through the MOU to provide service and financial data to the COE to substantiate expenditures for AB 3632 services funded by the IDEA allocation. The MOU makes provision for timely transfer of funding from the COE to Mental Health; requires appropriate referrals, cost and service data collection and reporting; and describes the allowable array of services. Your Board’s direction to develop a local agreement between the COE and Mental Health Services is addressed through this MOU. The MOU must be signed by May 1st of each year and returned to the California Department of Education within 15 days to ensure payment of IDEA funds for the AB 3632 program in the following fiscal year.

 

This MOU has been reviewed and agreed to by the County Office of Education and approved by County Counsel and Risk Management. The term of this MOU is July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:

The total cost for AB 3632 services provided to special education students is anticipated to be approximately $6,000,000 in FY 2007-08. The total IDEA allocation for these services is $1,979,619. An estimated $1,600,000 of AB 3632 costs will be offset through Medi-Cal Early Period Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment funds (EPSDT) and other funding, leaving an unfunded cost of approximately $2.4 million, which will be claimed through the SB 90 mandate process. The Governor’s 2007-08 budget proposes to end the prior practice of prospective SB 90 claiming for the AB 3632 program and to reimburse mandate claims on the same basis as all other SB 90 mandate claims. This change in policy would result in AB 3632 mandated claims for FY 2007-08 not being paid until the end of calendar year 2009. Mental Health will address this cash flow issue through a combination of increased Realignment funding and Medi-Cal revenues. The IDEA allocation and anticipated EPSDT funds are included in the Recommended Mental Health Services’ Budget for FY 2007-08. There is no Net County Cost for this program.