DATE: April 25, 2023
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute a Purchase Agreement with San Leandro Ford to Purchase Two (2) Vehicles for the Hayward Evaluation and Response Team (HEART) Program
RECOMMENDATION
That the Council adopts a resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the City Manager to negotiate and execute a purchase agreement with The Ford Store San Leandro for (2) Explorer Limited 4WD vehicles for a total purchase of approximately $180,000, including outfitting of vehicles, for the HEART program.
SUMMARY
During the April 19, 2022 City Council meeting, Council adopted Resolution 22-088, accepting and appropriating $389,260 in funding from the California Department of Health Care Services. Staff are seeking authorization to spend $170,000 from those grant funds to purchase two vehicles to further assist in the implementation of the HEART program. The HEART program model offers crisis support for community members experiencing mental illness, substance use disorders, and/or homelessness, while reducing police intervention. Both will be unmarked vehicles; one for the Mobile Integrated Health Unit (MIHU), and one for the Hayward Mobile Evaluation Team (HMET) to allow flexibility when a marked police vehicle or ambulance is not required and to provide a more discreet response to community members in need.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
On May 18, 2021, Council approved the recommendations of the Public Safety Policy Innovation Workshop, authorized a budget allocation to support the projects, and directed staff to begin implementing nine of the pilot projects in FY 2022, including the creation of the HEART program. HEART is a partnership between the Hayward Fire Department (HFD), the Hayward Police Department (HPD), and the City Manager’s Office that deploys two types of mobile response teams in the community as an alternative public safety response. The teams are: 1) The Hayward Mobile Evaluation Team (HMET), which pairs a specially trained HPD District Command Police Officer with an Alameda County Behavioral Health clinician to respond to crisis calls when individuals may be a threat to themselves or others and 2) A Mobile Integrated Health Unit (MIHU), which pairs a HFD Community Paramedic and a mental health clinician to respond to pre-crisis and post-crisis calls where there is no imminent threat of harm, but community members are experiencing distress and at risk of escalation to crisis without connection to appropriate resources and referrals to ongoing services.
In December 2021, to support capacity building and infrastructure development for this project, the City applied for the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Behavioral Health Justice Intervention Services (BHJIS) project, funded by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA). On February 28, 2022, the City received notice of award in the amount of $389,260 for the project period from February 15, 2022 through February 14, 2023. The grant term was later extended through December 31, 2023. During the April 19, 2022 meeting, the City Council adopted Resolution 22-088, accepting and appropriating the BHJIS grant funding. This included funding for training, equipment, and vehicle acquisitions to support project implementation.
Staff are seeking authorization to purchase two (2) vehicles, for HEART team members to respond to calls for service that do not require a marked patrol vehicle or an ambulance. The vehicles will be Ford Explorers from the San Leandro Ford Store and will be outfitted by LEHR to comply with Title 13 requirements for law enforcement vehicles. The vehicles will support HEART program implementation by allowing a greater degree of flexibility to determine what level of response is necessary based on the type of call. In situations where a marked police vehicle or ambulance is not required, the unmarked vehicles will allow a more discreet response to community members in need. They will also provide a transportation option for the mobile mental health clinicians to respond and provide follow-up services when sworn police and fire department personnel are not needed.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Enhance Community Safety and Quality of Life. Specifically, this item relates to Project Q5: Community Safety Public Engagement and Policy Innovation Workshop Pilots/Projects.
FISCAL IMPACT
The purchase of the two vehicles for the HEART program will be funded by previously appropriated grant funds with no impact on the General Fund.
NEXT STEPS
Upon Council authorization, staff will work to: 1) execute a purchase agreement with Ford Store San Leandro for two vehicles as well as the outfitting of vehicles from LEHR Auto Outfitters; and 2) utilize the vehicles to continue implementing the HEART program to provide essential mental health, medical, and other social services to the Hayward community.
Prepared by: Perla O’Shea, Management Analyst I
Recommended by: Regina Youngblood, Assistant City Manager Jessica Lobedan, Community Services Manager
Emily Young, Youth and Family Services Bureau Administrator Approved by:
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Kelly McAdoo, City Manager