REPORT TO SHASTA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

BOARD MEETING DATE:  January  30, 2018
CATEGORY:  Consent - Health and Human Services-7.

SUBJECT:

Renewal to Agreement with Shasta County Office of Education.

Supervisorial District No. :  All

DEPARTMENT CONTACT:  Dianna L. Wagner, Branch Director, Children's Services (530) 225-5705

STAFF REPORT APPROVED BY:  Dianna L. Wagner, Branch Director

RECOMMENDATION

Approve and authorize the Chairman to sign a retroactive renewal agreement with the Shasta County Office of Education in an amount not to exceed $39,268 per fiscal year to provide foster youth education services to eligible youth in foster care or in the Juvenile Rehabilitation Facility for the period July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2020.

SUMMARY

This agreement will allow Shasta County Office of Education (SCOE) to continue to provide services to support foster youth’s success in school by locating and recording educational records of foster youth, as well as facilitating their transfer from one school to another as needed.

DISCUSSION

In Shasta County, between seventy-five and eighty-five percent of eligible foster youth complete high school each year. This rate of success is largely due to the work of Social Workers and SCOE staff tracking students’ grades, class credits and progress toward graduation. With approval of this agreement, SCOE will continue to provide education support services to eligible Shasta County youth in foster care, or in county operated juvenile detention facilities. 

SCOE has successfully provided this service since July 2000.  Through this agreement, SCOE effectively maintains education records and data required by the California Department of Social Services.

Services provided by SCOE include locating, obtaining, inputting and updating educational records in the Child Welfare Electronic Record, in the Health and Educational Passport, an individual record for each child/youth, and when necessary, ensure that the child’s educational records are transferred to the child’s new school district when a change in placement occurs.  Tracking and transferring educational information from one school district to another is particularly important to ensuring that credits toward high school graduation are not lost through placement changes.  Additionally, information in the educational passport assists the Social Workers in ensuring that caregivers are informed of the child’s educational needs.

SCOE provides additional educational advocacy and support activities for foster youth with funding from the California Department of Education.  SCOE staff are co-located with Children’s Services staff and have a close working relationship that benefits foster youth. 

Due to regulatory changes to the State funding processes and delayed negotiations this agreement is retroactive.

For efficiency, this agreement also allows for the HHSA Director, or his designee, to make budget amendments which are (1) not in excess of 10 percent of the total Budget Category, or (2) across Budget Categories and do not make a substantial or functional change to the original intent of the agreement or cause an increase to the maximum amount payable under this agreement, and otherwise comply with Administrative Policy 6-101 (Shasta County Contracts Manual).

ALTERNATIVES

The Board may choose not to approve this agreement and direct HHSA Children’s Services to assume responsibility for maintaining the educational data that is required by the California Department of Social Services.

OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT

County Counsel has approved the agreement as to form.  Risk Management has approved the agreement.  This recommendation has been reviewed by the County Administrative Office.

FINANCING

This agreement is funded through Federal Child Welfare Services funding and 2011 Realignment.  SCOE provides the County share of cost required by the Child Welfare Services allocation that funds this agreement. HHSA/Children’s Services’ FY 2017-18 Adopted Budget includes sufficient appropriation authority for the activities described in this agreement. There is no additional General Fund impact associated with this recommendation. 

Title IV-E of the Social Security Act, enacted as part of the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, provides federal funds in support of certain child welfare activities. County agencies receive these federal funds by submitting claims for allowable expenses to CDSS. The CDSS then “passes through” the funds onto the County.

The maximum obligation of County under this agreement shall be $117,804 per County Fiscal Year or the actual federal share of allowable costs, whichever is less. County shall submit a quarterly claim to California Department of Social Services (CDSS) for reimbursement from Title IV-E for allowable activities. Upon receipt of the reimbursement, County will provide to Consultant at the conclusion of each quarter the calculated federal discount rate based on the number of foster care children not eligible for Title IV-E reimbursement. 

SCOE is responsible for the match amount, which is estimated at 63% of the total program cost, representing the non-federal share of cost calculated at the federal discount rate.