TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Data Sharing Agreement, and all necessary documents, including any subsequent amendments, with Local Medi-Cal Managed Care Health Plan Providers: L.A. Care, Health Net, and Senior Care Action Network (SCAN Health Plan), for the Housing and Homelessness Initiative Program (HHIP), for a three-year period, estimated to begin February 1, 2023, with the option to renew for an additional three-year period;
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and any necessary documents, including any subsequent amendments to the award amount, with L.A. Care and Health Net, to accept and expend grant funding in an amount not to exceed $85,760, for Homeless Management Information System improvements, for the period of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026, with the option to extend for an additional three-year period, at the discretion of the City Manager; and
Increase appropriations in the Health Fund Group in the Health and Human Services Department by $85,760, offset by grant revenues. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program (HHIP) is a $1.29 Billion voluntary incentive program designed to enable local Medi-Cal Managed Care Health Plan Providers (MCPs) to earn one-time funds for making progress in addressing homelessness and housing insecurity. The MCPs plan to share funds earned from HHIP with the Long Beach Continuum of Care (CoC) to cover the costs of implementing new data sharing, as well as the cost of integrating the Long Beach Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) database with the other CoCs in the Los Angeles Collaborative.
These CoCs will share information from their HMIS on members experiencing homelessness, including current service providers, housing programs, dates housed, and address information, if available. In reply, MCPs will share information on the members’ Medi-Cal Client Index Number, redetermination date, plan, plan partner, participating physician groups, primary care physician/clinic, and any enhanced care management or housing-related community supports programs the member is eligible for or enrolled in.
MCPs will use an identity matching process to identify members experiencing homelessness in its Medi-Cal enrollment files. MCPs will only use CoC data for those clients who are, or have been, MCP members during the applicable time period. MCPs will provide the CoCs with a certificate of data destruction once that process is completed. These data elements will be used by the members’ health and homeless services providers to coordinate care and housing opportunities.
This agreement will provide both immediate and long-term benefits to the Long Beach CoC. Sharing data with care providers will help MCPs provide better care with better information, resulting in improved collective health outcomes for individuals experiencing homelessness. The Long Beach CoC will receive important information about client health care from the MCPs, which will expedite verification processes and improve the fidelity of eligibility requirements when referring clients to re-housing projects. These efficiencies will lead to faster client-to-bed matching processes, reducing the amount of time individuals remain unsheltered.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Anita Lakhani on February 8, 2023 and by Budget Analyst Officer Greg Sorensen on February 13, 2023.
EQUITY STATEMENT
The City has incorporated the Equity Toolkit into this recommendation as requested by the City Council on April 21, 2020. This recommendation will provide assistance to people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach by providing services and resources to reduce and end homelessness in Long Beach.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is requested on March 7, 2023 to commence the program as soon as possible.
FISCAL IMPACT
The City will receive funding in an amount not the exceed $85,760 for the period of July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2026. An appropriation increase in the amount of $85,760 is being requested in the Health Fund Group in the Health and Human Services Department, offset by grant revenue. No match or in-kind service is required. This recommendation has no staffing impact beyond the normal budgeted scope of duties and is consistent with existing City Council priorities. There is no local job impact associated with this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
KELLY COLOPY
DIRECTOR
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
APPROVED:
THOMAS B. MODICA
CITY MANAGER