Title
Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) recommending the Board:
1) Adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 080-2025 delegating authority to the HHSA Director or Chief Assistant Director to accept and execute ongoing Revenue/Grant Agreements from granting agencies and any amendments thereto, contingent upon approval by County Counsel and Risk Management, as applicable, that are required to fund ongoing HHSA programs, as outlined in Attachment A to the Resolution and are included in the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Budget; and
2) Approve and authorize the HHSA Director, Chief Assistant Director, or Agency Chief Fiscal Officer to execute any required fiscal and programmatic reports for said Revenue/Grant Agreements.
FUNDING: Federal and State funding.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND:
The Board of Supervisors’ Policy A-6, Grant Applications, establishes the Board as the sole authority for accepting grant awards over $10,000. In accordance with this policy, HHSA presents all new Funding/Revenue and Grant Agreements that meet this threshold (hereinafter referred to as “revenue agreements”) to the Board for acceptance and execution. On an annual basis, HHSA receives many ongoing grant awards and funding allocations that support multiple HHSA programs and are a mainstay for operations. Since 2007, HHSA has processed an average of 35 revenue agreements each year, the majority of which are ongoing grant funding and include renewals or amendments to prior year agreements.
Revenue agreements and amendments can often be received late from the funding entity (i.e. after the start of the funding period) and require a short turnaround timeline from HHSA to return the executed agreement to secure funding. Prior to 2015, HHSA would present each individual revenue agreement for Board acceptance at the next available board date, which would often delay processing time. Program costs incurred before a revenue agreement or amendment is fully executed cannot be applied against the funding until after it has been approved and signed by both the County and the granting agency. This dynamic would impact HHSA by shortening the period of time to charge allowable costs against the approved funding, resulting in a reduction to the amount of services provided to the community or an increase in General Fund or other funding source expenditures to support the cost to operate the program prior to the approval of the funding. Consequently, starting in Fiscal Year (FY) 2015-16, HHSA began submitting an annual Signature Authority Resolution to include the list of recurring revenue agreements to the Board for adoption. Since this practice was instituted, the delays in agreement execution and connected services due to County processing time have been eliminated. This process has increased efficiency in processing associated agreements and documents, thereby decreasing the amount of time required to process funding documents. Additionally, it allows outside-funded, mainstay programs to begin (or continue) providing services to the target population(s) without undue delay, eliminating potential costs to other funding sources to sustain the program’s operation resulting from delays in approving such agreements or documents. HHSA recommends that the Board continue this practice for the benefit of both the government and the community.
The Resolution includes Attachment A which lists the known revenue agreements for FY 2025-26 that HHSA anticipates to receive and which have been included in the FY 2025-26 Budget. All listed agreements have been approved by the Board previously. Examples of programs that receive funding under these revenue agreements include but are not limited to: Community Services Block Grant, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program; Home Weatherization; Homeless Programs; Immunization Program; Tobacco Control; Women, Infants and Children Program; various Senior programs; and Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System services for Substance Use Disorder treatment.
ALTERNATIVES:
Disapproval of the Resolution will result in HHSA seeking Board approval for each revenue agreement, grants, and allocation, on an individual basis, however, disapproval could result in lost grant/allocation funds due to processing delays and hinder HHSA’s ability to provide timely, necessary and, in some cases, mandated services, to the community and residents of the County.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION:
1) 06/28/22, 22-0695, HHSA FY 2022-23 Annual Signature Authority
2) 06/06/23, 23-0829, HHSA Director Annual Signature Resolution
3) 06/25/24, 24-0407, HHSA Director Annual Signature Authority and Resolution FY 2024/25
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
Approve as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with these revenue allocations/agreements. Sufficient appropriations have been included in the FY 2025-26 Budget.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS:
1) Clerk of the Board to obtain the Chair’s signature on one original of the Resolution.
2) Clerk of the Board to return one certified Resolution to Health and Human Services Agency, Contracts Unit via email at hhsa-contracts@edcgov.us.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT:
N/A
CONTACT:
Olivia Byron-Cooper, MPH, Director, Health and Human Services Agency