Receive a presentation regarding the 10^th anniversary of the Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency formation. (Page 13)

Ten years ago, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors voted to combine the Mental Health, Public Health and Social Services Departments into the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). This presentation includes some of HHSA’s accomplishments over the past decade.

When the Mental Health, Public Health and Social Services Departments combined in June 2006, the Board of Supervisors’ goal was to coordinate services to better serve clients, increase efficiency, maximize funding and reduce duplication. Today, the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) has a unified vision and mission and has reorganized and consolidated services to be target-population specific. HHSA strives to help with social, physical, and behavioral health issues in a comprehensive manner.  This is achieved through better collaboration, integration, access and flexible funding.

Today, HHSA has approximately 1,000 employee positions and an annual budget of $182 million. HHSA staff were recently asked to select the top 10 achievements associated with the transformation into one agency.  The top ten achievements selected by staff are as follows: 1) Expanded services offered in Regional Offices – serving people in the neighborhoods where they live and work, including adding a regional office in the Enterprise area; 2) Increased access to healthcare – largely because of the Affordable Care Act and Medi-Cal expansion  3) Addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences – implemented evidence-based practices such as the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program® (Triple P®), Safe Care®, and Nurse-Family Partnership®, and helped found the Strengthening Families™ Collaborative; 4) Increased housing resources - used various funding streams to develop housing case management programs and resources for families and unsheltered adults; 5) Behavioral Health Court (in partnership with Probation) – intensive program gives offenders access to comprehensive, coordinated behavioral health services, with the goal of increasing public safety, reducing recidivism and reducing abuse of alcohol and other drugs; 6) Child welfare integration - public health nursing, mental health services, alcohol and drug and evidence-based practices have been integrated with child welfare services, simplifying implementation of Pathways to Mental Health and Continuum of Care reform; 7) Behavioral health program integration - substance abuse prevention, suicide prevention and prevention of Adverse Childhood Experiences have been incorporated into the Public Health Branch, and compliance and managed care are part of the Business and Support Services Branch; 8) Expanded role for Community Health Advocates - this team once worked solely in Public Health and now does eligibility outreach, which has increased enrollment in CalFresh and Medi-Cal for families and individuals in need of food and health care; 9) Implemented programs funded by the Mental Health Services Act – highlights include establishment of wellness centers, the Triple P®, The Woodlands housing project, the Suicide Prevention Workgroup and the Brave Faces destigmatization project; and 10) Electronic benefit transfer (EBT) access at Farmers’ Markets – expanded and sustained EBT access at Farmer’s Markets in partnership with Healthy Shasta has helped low-income people purchase fresh, locally grown produce.  HHSA has created a short video to showcase some of the many ways we make a difference in Shasta County, which will be presented to you today. With the vision of “Healthy people in thriving and safe communities,” the HHSA leadership and staff continue to achieve the mission of partnering with communities to protect and improve health and well-being.

The Board could choose not to receive the presentation at this time.

The HHSA partners with many County departments, the three local cities, school districts, mosquito abatement districts, private healthcare providers, non-profit organizations, funders, and local businesses to build a community where people can be healthy, safe, and thriving.  This recommendation has been reviewed by the County Administrative Office.

There is no additional General Fund impact associated with the presentation.