DATE: October 9, 2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Housing and Neighborhood Services Department
TITLE: APPROVAL OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENTS FOR OCEANSIDE DRUG-FREE COMMUNITY INITIATIVE PROGRAM
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommends that the City Council approve three FY 2024-25 Professional Services Agreements (PSAs) and one Contract Amendment for the Oceanside Drug-Free Community Initiative program, not to exceed a total of $573,282 and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreements upon receipt of all supporting documents.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
On July 21, 2021, California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, announced the final settlement agreements with prescription opioid manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen. These agreements provide funding to abate individual, family and community consequences associated with the opioid epidemic. Specifically, funded opioid remediation activities are focused on prevention, intervention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery services.
On December 1, 2021, the City Council authorized the City Attorney to execute all documents related to the participation of the City of Oceanside (the “City”) in the distribution of the Opioid Settlement funds.
On January 3, 2024, the Housing and Neighborhood Services Department issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for under the Oceanside Drug-Free Initiative to the Oceanside community. The RFP targeted projects and programs that met the established criteria of High Impact Abatement Activities (HIAA) to prevent drug addiction in vulnerable youth that are disproportionately impacted by Substance Use Disorders (SUD), consistent with terms and guidelines of the settlement agreements. The RFP sought proposals with specifically targeted interventions that would 1) Decrease/discourage the number of young people in Oceanside who are misusing and/or considering using substances; and 2) Provide education opportunities for youth, parents, and the general community about the risks of youth SUDs through a youth-focused campaign and/or program.
Vista Community Clinic (VCC), the sole applicant of the January 2024 RFP, applied for funding and was awarded $23,200 per year for a period of three years to facilitate its 420 Remix Program. This program provides several months of prevention education activities and programming for middle- and high-school students and their families. Through 420 Remix, students learn about SUD based on an evidence-based curriculum and are encouraged to design media campaigns that target youth. Students are able to participate in social media training workshops in designing drug prevention messaging and campaigns for other students. The program culminates in a community celebration where youth and their families engage in prevention activities and the media campaign entries are judged and awards are given. Student designs can be seen on City bus transportation, in movie theaters, on YouTube ads, billboards off of CA State Route 78 and on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
On June 3, 2024, staff issued a second RFP to solicit organizations who had the experience and capacity to facilitate comprehensive substance abuse/use prevention programming in Oceanside communities. Five proposals were received and four proposals met the criteria above, including an Amendment from Vista Community Clinic-North Coastal Prevention Coalition expanding its Scope of Work and funding for the previously-funded 420 Remix Program. The proposal that was not recommended for opioid settlement funding, the What’s Your Superpower event sponsored by Poseiden Foundation, was recommended for Measure X funding and that event was subsequently funded under the City Manager’s signature authority in the amount of $53,000.
The recommended FY 2024-25 Oceanside Drug-Free Community Initiative funding recipients are as follows:
1. Vista Community Clinic 420 Remix Youth Prevention Program Amendment
2. Lifeline Community Services Youth Substance Abuse Intervention Program
3. Boys & Girls Club of Oceanside Healthy Minds/Healthy Lives Prevention Education Program
4. North County LGBTQ Resource Center Youth Substance Abuse Prevention and Education Program
To maintain fairness and transparency in the selection process, each proposal was first evaluated by an independent committee of Oceanside residents and community stakeholders. Additionally, three city staff members outside the Housing and Neighborhood Services Department served as evaluators.
Proposals were evaluated based upon the following criteria, worth five points each.
1. The proposal was complete and complied with the terms and conditions of the RFP and those of the State Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) approved abatement activities.
2. The proposal demonstrated an understanding of the project and the targeted youth populations.
3. The organization/individual has experience providing like services.
4. The organization/individual has access to appropriate resources necessary to complete the project (i.e. funding, partners, qualified staff, location, etc.).
5. The organization/individual has a detailed plan to collect relevant data.
6. The proposal contained a complete project budget, and the amount of funding requested was appropriate to the Scope of Work.
Following a review of the scores, written feedback and recommendations from all evaluators, staff met with the evaluators to discuss the proposals in depth, answering questions and providing context or history when appropriate. The four proposals listed above illustrated a detailed plan to implement their programs, had access to additional, sustainable funding, and the organizations involved had SUD prevention/intervention experience.
The recommended programs will support organizations who work directly with at-risk Oceanside youth, teaching SUD prevention and intervention strategies and case-managing youth and families who have been impacted by SUD. VCC proposes the continuation and expansion of its 420 Remix program to include: new programing during the Fall with activities for Red Ribbon Week; eight interactive workshops for middle-school parents/caregivers; SUD interventions and education for 100 middle-school students through the federal evidence-based Step 1 program; and 200 Narcan (Naloxone) training kits to Oceanside families attending prevention workshops previously mentioned. VCC runs the 420 Remix event in collaboration with well-established youth organizations including the North Coastal Prevention Coalition and NAACP Youth Council which have chapters at several local schools.
North County Lifeline would implement a SUD program for middle- and high-school students that includes: SUD prevention groups and forums for students and parents; Youth Substance Abuse Screening (SASSI); intervention services; SUD case management; and relapse prevention planning in both English and Spanish.
According to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), LGBTQ youth are more likely to develop a SUD than their peers. The North County LGBTQ Resource Center (The Center) would facilitate an after-school program with evidence-based SUD prevention as the primary focus of the program curriculum. Youth would engage in prevention activities while learning life skills and working on behavioral health. The Center would also conduct outreach activities to a minimum of 250 youth in Oceanside.
The Boys & Girls Club of Oceanside (BGCO) would implement an evidence-based Healthy Minds/Healthy Lives curriculum for a minimum of 300 at-risk youth, ages 10-18, during their after-school and summer camp programs. This curriculum features the evidence-based SMART Moves health promotion, the trauma-informed Boys & Girls Club of America’s Opioid and Substance Use Prevention Curriculum, trusted adult mentoring, evening and weekend programing, parent education/engagement, referrals for substance use/abuse, and mental health screening/intervention.
The Oceanside Drug-Free Community Initiative will ensure that young people have access to high-quality SUD programing in the community where they live, therefore limiting the barrier to accessing these programs and the burden of transportation. City staff will work with all programs throughout the grant cycle to ensure that the terms of the agreements are met. Additionally, staff will engage a third-party evaluator to assess the programs and their impact with youth in our community.
FISCAL IMPACT
The funding source for these PSAs are the Opioid Settlement Funds. As of September 2024, the City has received $1.3 million of Opioid Settlement Funds and has had minimal expenditures. Of these funds, staff is requesting to appropriate $573,282 to 836182622272.5395 for the agreements below.
|
Description |
Account |
Amount |
|
Vista Community Clinic/North Coastal Prevention Coalition Youth Prevention Program (2 years) |
836182622272.5395.101934 |
$177,664 |
|
Boys & Girls Club of Oceanside Healthy Minds/Healthy Lives Prevention Program |
836182622272.5395.101936 |
$49,500 |
|
Lifeline Community Services Youth Substance Abuse Intervention Program |
836182622272.5395.101935 |
275,538 |
|
North County LGBTQ Resource Center Substance Abuse Prevention Program |
836182622272.5395.101937 |
70,580 |
|
Total |
|
$573,282 |
All providers will submit monthly invoices and quarterly progress reports to the Housing and Neighborhood Services Department and will submit quarterly Nonprofit Organization Financial reports to the Financial Services Department.
COMMISSION OR COMMITTEE REPORT
Does not apply.
CITY ATTORNEY’S ANALYSIS
The referenced documents have been reviewed by the City Attorney and approved as to form.
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Prepared by: Michele Gehr, Management Analyst
Reviewed by: Leilani Hines, Housing and Neighborhood Services Director
Submitted by: Jonathan Borrego, City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Staff Report
2. North County LGBTQ Resource Center PSA
3. North County Lifeline PSA
4. Boys and Girls Club of Oceanside PSA
5. VCC Amendment 1
6. VCC Proposal
7. VCC PSA