Subject:
Title
Memoranda of Understanding with Multiple Homeless Housing Providers under the Grant Award for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Cooperative Agreement to Benefit Homeless Individuals.
label
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Approval and execution by the County Administrator of the Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with Boley Centers, Inc. (Boley), Catholic Charities Diocese of St. Petersburg, Inc. (Catholic Charities), Homeless Emergency Project, Inc. D.B.A. Homeless Empowerment Program (HEP), and the Pinellas County Housing Authority (PCHA) to enhance mental health and substance use treatment services for their eligible residents through the Cooperative Agreement to Benefit Homeless Individuals (CABHI) Grant Award from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Body
Strategic Plan:
Ensure Public Health, Safety and Welfare
2.1 Provide planning, coordination, prevention, and protective services to ensure a safe and secure community.
2.2 Be a facilitator, convener and purchaser of services for those in need.
2.4 Support programs that seek to prevent and remedy the causes of homelessness and move individuals and families from homelessness to permanent housing.
Deliver First Class Services to the Public and Our Customers
5.1 Maximize partner relationships and public outreach.
5.2 Be responsible stewards of the public’s resources.
Summary:
These MOUs establish the relationship between the County, the partnering housing providers (Boley, Catholic Charities, HEP, PCHA), and the CABHI Grant Award sub-recipients (Directions for Mental Health, D.B.A. Directions for Living, Operation PAR, Inc., WestCare GulfCoast-Florida, Inc.) for implementation and operation of the grant program. This program will provide supportive mental health and substance abuse services for eligible client residents in housing owned or established by the housing providers.
The housing providers agree to participate actively in the program’s Local Government Steering Committee and support the goals of the grant program. The housing providers will identify imminently housed or newly housed clients who meet eligibility criteria, and will refer them to the sub-recipient mental health and substance abuse providers for screening, assessment, and treatment. In addition, those housing providers with space available will work with the sub-recipients to establish Telehealth nodes to allow for video treatment sessions to be utilized by eligible clients.
Background/Explanation:
On August 9, 2016, the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners (Board) unanimously passed a Resolution to Endorse Housing First and the Coordinated Entry System. The goal of Housing First is to connect homeless families and individuals with permanent housing as quickly as possible, and then to provide rapid around services to stabilize and maintain housing.
Also in August 2016, the County was awarded a Cooperative Agreement Grant from SAMHSA to provide critical health care needs to the County’s homeless population. Funding from this grant is expected to provide evidence-based mental health and substance abuse treatment services for individuals who experience homelessness and have serious mental illness, substance use disorder, serious emotional disturbance, and/or co-occurring disorder.
The award of the CABHI grant at $800,000.00 per year for three (3) years, establishes a new initiative designed to reduce service gaps for up to 375 homeless residents. The program has a strong housing link with partnering agencies and provides for a cross-discipline approach to connect supportive services. With expanded focus on rapid rehousing, the link to supportive behavioral health services is critical for stability. This grant will allow for expanded services to be delivered across the county to newly housed clients in the MOU partner facilities through a combination of face-to-face and telehealth capacity.
Fiscal Impact:
There is no direct fiscal impact related to these MOUs. The SAMHSA grant award in the amount of $800,000.00 per year for three years, for a total award of $2,400,000.00, covers the cost of services provided by the sub-recipient partners to this program. No cost sharing/match is required.
Delegated Authority:
Authority for the County Administrator to sign these Memoranda is granted under Code Section 2-62 (a)(1).
Staff Member Responsible:
Lourdes Benedict, Director, Human Services
Partners:
Boley
Catholic Charities/Pinellas Hope
Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County
HEP
Mobile Medical Unit Advisory Council
Operation PAR
PCHA
Ready for Life
WestCare Gulf Coast Florida, Inc.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Attachments:
Boley MOU
Catholic Charities MOU
HEP MOU
PCHA MOU
Program Governance
HIPAA Business Associate Agreements