Life Enrichment Committee
October 10, 2023
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Scott Means
City Administrator Interim Director, Human
Services
SUBJECT: SAMHSA Oakland ReCAST Program
Agreements FY 23-24
DATE: September 13, 2023
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution:
1. Awarding One Year Grant Agreements With Option To Renew For An Additional Year Using Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Funds To Four Non-Profit Agencies In A Total Amount Not To Exceed $431,000 Per Year To Provide Trauma Informed Behavioral Health Services To High-Risk Youth And Their Families, Subject To SAMHSA Funding And Grant Compliance; And
2. Waiving The Local And Small Local Business Enterprise Program (L/SLBE) And Request For Proposal/Qualifications (RFP/Q) Requirements And Awarding One Year Professional Services Agreements With Option To Renew For An Additional Year Using SAMHSA Funds To East Bay Agency For Children In An Amount Not To Exceed $65,000 Per Year For Trauma Informed Systems Trainings, To Crisis Support Services Of Alameda County In An Amount Not To Exceed $20,000 Per Year For Mental Health First Aid, And To The Bridging Group, LLC In An Amount Not To Exceed $60,000 Per Year For Independent Evaluation Services, Subject To SAMHSA Funding And Grant Compliance; And
3. Authorizing The City Administrator To Amend The Above Grant Agreements And Professional Service Agreements To Increase The Amount Of Said Agreements Using Carryover Grant Funding In Accordance With SAMHSA Authority
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City of Oakland’s Human Services Department was previously awarded a second ReCAST Grant from the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to address Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma (ReCAST) for five years for a total award of $5,000,000 beginning September 30, 2021 through September 29, 2026. The purpose of this program is to assist high-risk youth and families and promote Sep 27, 2023
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: SAMHSA Oakland ReCAST Program Agreements FFY 23-24 Date: September 13, 2023 Page 2
Life Enrichment Committee
October 10, 2023
resilience and equity in communities that have recently faced civil unrest through the implementation of evidence-based violence prevention and community youth engagement programs, as well as linkages to trauma-informed behavioral health services.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
The City of Oakland’s Human Services Department (HSD) was first awarded an annual grant to address Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma (ReCAST) from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) during the first cycle of this 5-year grant from 2016 – 2021. This second cycle of the ReCAST grant will run from 2021-2026 and was awarded to the City of Oakland based on a competitive application that built on the successful work of the prior ReCAST grant. On December 21, 2021, City Council authorized the acceptance of the 5-year ReCAST Program grant from SAMHSA (Resolution No. 88964).
The City Council previously awarded grant agreements and professional services agreements for the use of these SAMHSA funds in Resolution No. 88964 C.M.S. and Resolution No. 89506 C.M.S. for funding through September 2023.
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Oakland ReCAST is designed to provide culturally appropriate, evidence-based, community designed and driven interventions to high-risk youth and families impacted by civil unrest, violence, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This approach recognizes that violence and civil unrest fueled by systemic racism have an intergenerational impact that can be disrupted by providing and promoting nurturing and healing relationships. Highly stressed youth and families who receive community-driven trauma and resilience support have an increased likelihood of improving their behavioral health, creating more resilient communities, and reducing incidents of violence.
Oakland ReCAST is a multi-departmental, multi-agency partnership that supports community resilience in the face of trauma. Oakland ReCAST works to strengthen, heal, and reimagine the systems that community members seek when in distress through training, capacity building, coaching, and fostering cross-system collaboration and coordination. This approach recognizes that existing systems often perpetuate systemic racism through toxic practices, policies, and procedures; that they risk retraumatizing residents most affected by violence and civil unrest when services are not provided through a trauma-informed lens; and that a lack of coordination across systems limits community access to resources that mitigate inequities.
Adoption of this resolution will authorize the City Administrator to enter into agreements with the providers indicated in the report, to deliver services aligned with the three ReCAST goal areas, for one year terms and to renew the agreements for an additional term, subject to SAMHSA funding and grant compliance: Goal 1: Increase the capacity (knowledge, skills, and dispositions) of City of Oakland workforce, local service provider networks, and community interventionists to provide and collaborate in the provision of trauma-informed and culturally relevant services and activities for youth and families impacted by stress and trauma; Goal 2:
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: SAMHSA Oakland ReCAST Program Agreements FFY 23-24 Date: September 13, 2023 Page 3
Life Enrichment Committee
October 10, 2023
Expand practice of community and youth partnership to promote the trauma informed principles of voice, choice, collaboration, and mutuality in Oakland City agencies and local provider networks; and Goal 3: Increase opportunities for community-driven resilience and healing among and between Oakland community members most affected by violence and trauma.
ReCAST Program Offerings For Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2023-24:
Oakland ReCAST recommends entering into grant and professional service agreements with the following providers in support of ReCAST goal areas as described above.
Goal 1 - Capacity Building
Be The Change Consulting, LLC will provide a series of capacity building trainings to community-based organizations that serve youth and families most impacted by stress and trauma in East and West Oakland. Trainings are extended to grantee networks within Oakland Fund for Children and Youth, Alameda County Oakland Community Action Partnership (AC- OCAP), and other City of Oakland divisions to support the organizations that are serving Oakland residents most impacted by trauma and racial disparities. This partnership strengthens community-based organizations’ emotional capacity and resilience and allows for the reimaging of systems that community members seek when in distress. These trauma-informed trainings; teach skills such as restorative conflict resolution, healing centered case management, trauma literacy 101, and more.
Trauma Transformed, a program of East Bay Agency for Children, will provide training to all City staff on trauma informed systems (TIS). TIS is an organizational change model developed by the San Francisco Department of Public Health designed to nurture and sustain trauma- informed practices and organizations that work to reduce trauma. Additionally, a learning event, When Compassion Hurts, will be offered. This learning event focuses on service providers and addresses the impact experienced by the service provider when listening to the traumatic stories of the people being cared for and served. The session explores ways to be aware of the signs of burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue so that a self-care plan can be developed.
Trauma Transformed is the only regional center and clearinghouse in the Bay Area that promotes a trauma-informed system by providing training and policy guidance to systems of care professionals and organizations. T2 is an Oakland based organization that is uniquely qualified to provide these services. This agency was not selected through a competitive Request for Proposal/Qualifications (RFP/RFQ) process and is not L/SLBE certified; therefore, a waiver of these requirements is requested in order to execute a professional service agreement.
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), is an education program designed for the public that teaches people how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health challenges. This skills-based training teaches participants how to approach, engage, provide initial support, and connect someone to care. This training is offered to all City staff via Citywide training. The Mental Health First Aid training will be offered through Crisis Support Services of Alameda County (CSS). CSS is an Oakland based organization. This agency is uniquely positioned to provide these services. CSS has received Alameda County’s Small, Local, Emerging Business Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: SAMHSA Oakland ReCAST Program Agreements FFY 23-24 Date: September 13, 2023 Page 4
Life Enrichment Committee
October 10, 2023
(SLEB) certification. CSS was not selected through a competitive RFP/Q process and is not L/SLBE certified by the City of Oakland. A waiver of these requirements is requested in order to execute a professional service agreement.
Due to the timing of the grant cycle and limited staff supporting the program ReCAST has not been able to conduct an RFP/RFQ process. ReCAST has worked with T2 and CSS in the past and would like to continue partnerships with these Oakland based organizations. ReCAST staff encourages partners to become L/SLBE certified with the City of Oakland should they meet the criteria. Timely execution of these agreements will ensure continuity of programming which is essential for grant compliance.
Goal 2 – Community And Youth Partnership To Promote The Trauma Informed Principles
Oakland ReCAST will continue to partner with The Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) to manage the Youth-to-Youth Mini Grant project and will serve as the fiscal agency to allocate funds to the youth grantees. YLI will help facilitate the offering of Liberation Ecotherapy ™ training, a community nature-based resiliency mental health strategy to support rest, healing, recovery, and joy for historically excluded and underestimated communities in Oakland. YLI will also help facilitate clinical and holistic mental health support for direct service staff in the Department of Violence Prevention.
Oakland ReCAST seeks to award a grant agreement to The Youth Leadership Institute to provide training, technical assistance, and implementation support for youth-led projects and other trauma informed, culturally responsive activities.
Goal 3 –Community-Driven Resilience And Healing
Creative Arts Practices conducted by AE Creative Consulting Partners, LLC (AE Creative) in conjunction with the 501c3, Artist as First Responder uses art-based and culturally responsive approaches to healing activities for Oakland community members that promote resiliency, healing, belonging, joy, and equity. AE Creative, in partnership with the community, provided safe, intimate sessions for Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color (BIPOC) mothers experiencing grief and loss and young men to discuss grief, fear, violence, healing, and transformation through storytelling, testimony, music, and art therapy.
Oakland ReCAST seeks to award a grant agreement to AE Creative Consulting Partners, LLC, to provide creative arts practices for community healing from trauma.
The Oakland ReCAST program will execute a professional services agreement with The Bridging Group, LLC (TBG), for independent evaluation services. This provider was selected through the Human Services Request for Proposal process 2022-2025. This agency is uniquely positioned to provide these services. The Bridging Group is an Oakland based organization.
TBG has received Alameda County’s Small, Local, Emerging Business (SLEB) certification. The Bridging Group, LLC is not L/SLBE certified by the City of Oakland, and a waiver of this requirement is requested in order to execute a professional service agreement.
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: SAMHSA Oakland ReCAST Program Agreements FFY 23-24 Date: September 13, 2023 Page 5
Life Enrichment Committee
October 10, 2023
The citywide priority of holistic community safety is advanced by this proposed resolution through training City staff in trauma informed principles and engaging in systems change, as well as through funding of a youth-to-youth mini grant program which provides youth an opportunity to become grant makers and support their peers by funding grants centered around creative and dynamic solutions that promote healing and increase resiliency in Oakland communities.
FISCAL IMPACT
SAMHSA funding for Oakland ReCAST is appropriated in the Department of Health and Human Services Fund (2128), Department of Human Services: Administration Organization (78111), and the SAMHSA 09-29-24 FY24 Project (1006738), Fostering Safe and Healthy Communities Program (SC22) Table 1 and Table 2 below provides a breakdown of the grant agreements and professional service agreements as described in the report and resolution:
Table 1: Oakland ReCAST Grant Agreements
Partner Agencies Annual Not To
Exceed Amount
AE Creative Consulting Partners, LLC $75,000
The Youth Leadership Institute $281,000
Be The Change Consulting, LLC $75,000
Total Contracts Amount: $431,000
Table 2: Oakland ReCAST Professional Service Agreements Contractors Annual Not To
Exceed Amount
Crisis Support Services of Alameda County $20,000
East Bay Agency for Children $65,000
The Bridging Group, LLC $60,000
Total Contracts Amount: $145,000
Adoption of the proposed Resolution will also authorize the City Administrator to amend these agreements to increase the funding amount based on carryover funding available from prior SAMHSA years. Such carryover funding amounts will not be available until after the September 2023 contract term ends. Should carryover funds be identified, they would be used to expand the offerings of the ReCAST program by increasing training and trauma informed behavioral health-services in accordance with SAMHSA guidelines.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
Oakland ReCAST conducted community outreach in the creation of the Strategic Navigation Plan, where community members, community organizations, and other stakeholders convened to provide input in the creation of the program offerings. No additional outreach was deemed Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: SAMHSA Oakland ReCAST Program Agreements FFY 23-24 Date: September 13, 2023 Page 6
Life Enrichment Committee
October 10, 2023
necessary for the proposed policy action outside of the standard City Council agenda noticing practices.
COORDINATION
The Budget Bureau and Office of the City Attorney were consulted in the preparation of this report.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
Oakland ReCAST Key Outcomes for FY 2022-23
• Oakland ReCAST supported teachers and Mental Health Consultants in the Head Start program, which serves some of Oakland’s most vulnerable children and families.
• Oakland ReCAST trained City staff to work with each other and the community in a more trauma-informed way.
• Oakland ReCAST lifted-up youth leadership through the Youth-to-Youth Mini-Grant program.
• Oakland ReCAST amplified the role of artists as healers and first responders to community crises by supporting dozens of community events based in art and expressive practices.
Oakland ReCAST is contracting with an independent evaluator to help create tools to monitor the progress toward Oakland ReCAST goals and to develop strategies to incorporate results- based evaluation and data analysis into the performance measures of the program with an emphasis on equitable outcomes for the Oakland community, with particular emphasis on Oakland’s high-risk youth and families most affected by the interrelated challenges of violence, civil unrest, and trauma.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: Healing and resiliency through increased use of trauma informed approaches can improve education outcomes, employment opportunities, and economic stability for Oakland communities most affected by trauma, racism, violence, and civil unrest.
Environmental: There are no environmental impacts associated with this policy recommendation.
Race & Equity: Populations of focus for Oakland ReCAST include residents of low-income, high-stress neighborhoods in East and West Oakland; children attending high-stress schools; victims of violence; and residents of color in Oakland, particularly Black residents and youth, as Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: SAMHSA Oakland ReCAST Program Agreements FFY 23-24 Date: September 13, 2023 Page 7
Life Enrichment Committee
October 10, 2023
well as other vulnerable populations such as immigrants and refugees; Latinx, Native American, and Asian/Pacific Islander children and youth; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth; and youth with disabilities.
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution:
1. Awarding One Year Grant Agreements With Option To Renew For An Additional Year Using Substance Abuse And Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Funds To Four Non-Profit Agencies In A Total Amount Not To Exceed $431,000 Per Year To Provide Trauma Informed Behavioral Health Services To High -Risk Youth And Their Families, Subject To SAMHSA Funding And Grant Compliance; And
2. Waiving The Local And Small Local Business Enterprise Program (L/SLBE) And Request For Proposal/Qualifications (RFP/Q) Requirements And Awarding One Year Professional Services Agreements With Option To Renew For An Additional Year Using SAMHSA Funds To East Bay Agency For Children In An Amount Not To Exceed $65,000 Per Year For Trauma Informed Systems Trainings, To Crisis Support Services Of Alameda County In An Amount Not To Exceed $20,000 Per Year For Mental Health First Aid, And To The Bridging Group, LLC In An Amount Not To Exceed $60,000 Per Year For Independent Evaluation Services, Subject To SAMHSA Funding And Grant Compliance; And
3. Authorizing The City Administrator To Amend The Above Grant Agreements And Professional Service Agreements To Increase The Amount Of Said Agreements Using Carryover Grant Funding In Accordance With SAMHSA Authority
For questions regarding this report, please contact Desralynn Cole, Oakland ReCAST Program Manager, at 510-238-6477.
Respectfully submitted,
SCOTT MEANS
Interim Director, Human Services Department
Jestin D. Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: SAMHSA Oakland ReCAST Program Agreements FFY 23-24 Date: September 13, 2023 Page 8
Life Enrichment Committee
October 10, 2023
Prepared by:
Desralynn Cole, Program Manager
Oakland ReCAST Program, Human Service
Department