The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has provided the
following information regarding various funding opportunities
that may be of interest to counties:
The County Medical Services Program (CMSP) Governing Board is
launching the CMSP Healthcare Infrastructure Development Matching
Grant (HID Matching Grant) Program to assist CMSP counties
develop expanded facility capacity to provide healthcare and
behavioral health services to underserved populations, including
CMSP beneficiaries.
Next Friday, the Governor’s Office, the California Health & Human
Services Agency, and the California Department of Aging will host
a webinar for the public release of three key milestones related
to the Master Plan for Aging (MPA).
On January 11, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary
Becerra extended
the federal public health emergency (PHE) due to the
COVID-19 pandemic for another 90 days, delaying the expiration
until April 11, 2023, although the Secretary may terminate the
declaration whenever he determines that the emergency has ceased
to exist. Secretary Becerra has previously promised to provide 60
days’ notice before ending the emergency.
California is experiencing a large winter storm with flash
flood risks, heavy snow for the Sierra and other mountain ranges,
and high wind warnings/advisories remain in effect for much of
the state.
The California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS), in
collaboration with the Department of Health Care Services and the
Judicial Council of California, will be sharing a webinar with
general information and important updates on the implementation
of the Community Assistance, Recovery & Empowerment (CARE) Act.
The recorded webinar will be posted on the CalHHS CARE Act website
coinciding with an email announcement on Monday, December
19.
Join CSAC, Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), and
Urban Counties of California (UCC) on Friday,
December 9, to learn what to expect for CARE Court
implementation.
Yesterday, Governor Newsom
announced $480.5 million in awards for 54 projects across
California to improve California’s behavioral health
infrastructure for children and youth. These funds will be used
to construct new facilities and expand existing facilities that
help children, youth, transition-age youth, and perinatal
individuals with a behavioral health and/or substance use
disorder.
On December 1, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)
released a
Request for Applications (RFA) as part of the Children and
Youth Behavioral Health Initiative. In this first round of grant
funding totaling $30 million, DHCS is seeking proposals to scale
up evidence-based and community-defined evidence practices.
On December 1, the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency
(BCSH) released a Notice
of Funding Availability for $240 million as part of the
Encampment Resolution Fund grant program. Authorized through the
2022 Budget Act, this serves as the first round of funding out of
the total $700 million authorized over the next two years to
assist local governments in closing encampments and transitioning
people into housing and shelter.
The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES)
is requesting local jurisdictions to submit all eligible COVID-19
costs incurred up to July 1, 2022 in order to maximize Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) reimbursement. Although the
September 30 deadline for this submission to Cal OES has lapsed,
Cal OES is still accepting these submissions as many local
jurisdictions’ submissions are still outstanding.
CSAC recently reported on the final outcomes of measures that
were approved by the Legislature and delivered to Governor Newsom
for action. To keep counties informed of new laws of interest and
impact, CSAC will publish a series of articles to spotlight those
laws in each policy area. This week, the Health and Human
Services policy area provides information on new laws affecting
behavioral health, health services, and human services in
California counties.
The new laws listed below become effective January 1, 2023 unless
otherwise noted.
Governor Newsom rejected all applications for the third round of
state Homelessness Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP)
grants today, calling for more accelerated goals to reduce street
homelessness.
“As a state, we are failing to meet the urgency of this moment,”
Newsom said. Read the Governor’s press release
here.
The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) will host an
informational webinar on Wednesday, November 2 at
2:00 pm to review the BHCIP Round 5 funding opportunity
and application process. This round will fund $480 million in
projects to address significant crisis care gaps in California’s
behavioral health infrastructure, with consideration for funding
priority to those that provide crisis services to individuals in
need.
Last week, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State
Administration held an
informational hearing in San Francisco focused on
homelessness in California. The hearing was the first in a series
of hearings intended to gather information on how local
jurisdictions are utilizing the myriad of state funding sources
intended to expand local capacity to meet community needs and
support regional coordination around homelessness.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Becerra extended
the federal public health emergency due to the COVID-19
pandemic for another 90 days on October 13, placing the
expiration – for now – at or around January 11, 2023, although
the Secretary may terminate the declaration whenever he
determines that the emergency has ceased to exist. Secretary
Becerra has previously promised to provide 60 days’ notice before
ending the emergency.
On September 28, the Biden Administration hosted the White House
Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. The
Conference website contains numerous resources and videos of
the event.
As detailed in a recent
bulletin article, the California Department of Aging (CDA)
and the Implementing the Master Plan for Aging in California
Together (IMPACT) Stakeholder Committee hosted a day-long CA For
ALL Ages and Abilities Day of Action on September 20.
The purpose of the event was to gather key stakeholders to move
forward with planning for an equitable and inclusive future for
older adults and people with disabilities.
In 2020, a new law (SB 234, Chapter 244, Statutes of 2019) went
into effect that aims to increase the availability of family
child care homes. The sponsor of the legislation, the Child Care
Law Center, reached out to CSAC to share new and updated
resources with counties regarding the implementation of this law.
SB 234 made various changes regarding licensing and zoning for
family child care homes, including several that directly impact
county regulations. These include:
Governor Newsom vetoed AB
240 (Rodriguez), which would have required the Department of
Public Health to conduct an evaluation of the adequacy of local
health department infrastructure and to make recommendations for
future staffing, funding, workforce needs, and resources, in
order to accurately and adequately fund local public health.
Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed SB
1302 (Portantino), which would have appropriated $250 million
from the Mental Health Services Fund to support school-based
health centers through grants issued by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (veto
request).
The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)
released new instructions to assist Covered Entities, Covered
Service Employers (CEs/CSEs), and independent physicians or
physicians who are part of a Physician Group Entities (PGEs)
registration and application process to participate in Worker
Retention Payments (WRP).
John Burton Advocates for Youth and Senator Anna Caballero will
host a virtual policy
briefing on Wednesday, September 28 from 9:00-10:30
am to highlight opportunities to end youth homelessness
in California communities.
On Tuesday, September 20, the California Department of Aging and
the Implementing the Master Plan for Aging in California Together
(IMPACT) Stakeholder Committee hosted the day-long CA For ALL
Ages and Abilities Day of Action conference in Sacramento. The
in-person event gathered policymakers, caregivers, advocates and
other stakeholders passionate about planning for an equitable and
inclusive future for older adults and people with disabilities.
On Wednesday, September 28, the Biden-Harris Administration will
host the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
in Washington, DC. During the Conference, which will also be live
streamed, the Administration will release a national strategy to
end hunger and increase healthy eating and physical activity by
2030.
Earlier this week on Tuesday, the Governor signed
AB 179 (Ting), which amends the Budget Act of 2022 to reflect
changes necessary to implement the budget agreement. Of
particular interest to counties, AB 179 includes the following
health-related funding components:
California’s legislative session came to a close in the early
morning hours this week with hundreds of bills now awaiting
action by Governor Gavin Newsom. The following provides an update
on major bills of interest for the Health and Human
Services policy area. CSAC staff will continue to monitor
and advocate for County priorities during the signing
period, which ends September 30, 2022.
Last Thursday marked another big day for the California
Legislature. The Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees
convened their suspense file hearings to consider nearly 800
bills prior to the fiscal committee deadline. As the Legislature
approaches its last day on August 31 to finish out the two-year
session, we wanted to provide an update on a key bill of interest
to counties.
Next Thursday, August 25 from 9:30-11:00 am,
John Burton Advocates for Youth (JBAY) will host a webinar to
share results of a project to increase foster youth utilization
of state and federal tax credits, stimulus checks, and tax
rebates. Participants will learn about the benefits of tax filing
for Transition Age Youth and what it takes to operate a Volunteer
Income Tax Assistance site dedicated to current and former foster
youth.
The newly formed Senate Select Committee on Monkeypox, chaired by
Senator Scott Wiener, convened for the first time on Tuesday to
hear from state and local health officials on California’s
response to the growing monkeypox outbreak. The hearing occurred
on the tails of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary Xavier Becerra’s
declaration of a Public Health Emergency (PHE) announced late
last week.
Last Friday, July 1, marked another big deadline for the
California Legislature. Policy committees held their final
hearings for the legislative session before adjourning for Summer
Recess. As the Legislature breaks before returning August
1st to finish out the session, we want to update you
on key health and behavioral health legislation of interest to
counties:
The start of July marked the end of policy committee hearings for
legislative session before the Legislature adjourned for Summer
Recess. As the Legislature breaks before returning August 1st to
finish out the session, we want to update you on key legislation
the Government Finance and Administration team is following that
are of interest to counties:
Last Friday, May 27 marked the final day for the Legislature to
pass bills introduced in their house of origin. As policy
committees pick back up and the June 15 budget deadline
approaches, the CSAC Government Finance and Administration team
would like to provide you with an update on some of the key
pieces of legislation that moved last week.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury released new information on
how counties can access their second tranche of the over $65
billion directed to counties through the American Rescue Plan Act
of 2021 (ARPA). ARPA required payments to counties to be divided
into two tranches, allocating 50 percent last year and the
remaining 50 percent no earlier than 12 months after a county
certifies its first tranche.
