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Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) recommending the Board:
1) Award Request for Proposal 22-918-049 to the proposal identified as appropriate by the evaluation panel, Sierra Child and Family Services (SCFS), Inc., for the provision of Family Urgent Response System and Mobile Response System and Stabilization Team services, mandated by the California Department of Social Services for child welfare jurisdictions, to include the operation of a 24/7 telephone answering system and deployment of a trauma-informed in-person stabilization service team to foster youth and their caregivers in need; and
2) Authorize HHSA to negotiate a 3-year Agreement for Services with SCFS for an estimated budget not to exceed $2,669,976 for the term of the Agreement, for Fiscal Years 2022-23, 2023-24, and 2024-25, and return to the Board for approval of the Agreement upon completion of negotiations.
FUNDING: 100% State funding allocated to the California Department of Social Services appropriated for the Family Urgent Response Services and Mobile Response Stabilization Systems.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND:
The State of California (State) established the Family Urgent Response System (FURS) program in 2019 through the enactment of Senate Bill 80 as amended by Assembly Bill 79 (Statutes of 2020). The Budget Act of 2020 enacted by Governor Newsom allocated the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) $26.1 million in State General Funds for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-21 for the FURS program to be enacted, with continued allocations planned for future fiscal years. The CDSS, in consultation with the County Welfare Directors Association, allocated funding directly to all California county child welfare jurisdictions for the implementation of a countywide established Mobile Response System and Stabilization Team (MRSST).
The FURS program builds upon the Continuum of Care Reform (Statutes of 2015), which reformed child welfare services for foster youth by reducing the use ...
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