To: Board of Supervisors
From: DHHS: Administration
Agenda Section: Consent
Vote Requirement: Majority
SUBJECT:
title
Approval of an Exception to the Hiring Freeze to Hire Three Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Medical Office Assistant I/II, One FTE Services Support Assistant I/II and One FTE Senior Program Manager-Behavioral Health for the Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS)
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RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Provide an exception to the hiring freeze to fill and begin recruitment for the position of Medical Office Assistant I/II (class 0574A/B, salary range 341/351), Services Support Assistant I/II (class 1137A/B, salary range 341/351) and Senior Program Manager-Behavioral Health (class 0928, salary range 543).
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STRATEGIC PLAN:
This action supports the following areas of your Board’s Strategic Plan.
Area of Focus: Core Services/Other
Strategic Plan Category: 9999 - Core Services/Other
DISCUSSION:
On June 4, 2024, your Board approved a hiring freeze for positions allocated under a fund with a negative fund balance, including Social Services 1160 and Behavioral Health 1170. DHHS continues to evaluate core operations to determine if there is a better structure to provide services. The department continually reevaluates staffing models to achieve the necessary workload and provide operational savings. The department has identified three classifications in need of filling to efficiently provide services to the county.
The Medical Office Assistant I/II positions are important positions providing various supportive services at Humboldt County Behavioral Health’s Adult Outpatient and crisis services. These positions support the front desk reception coordinating client registration and scheduling, mailing patient packets, patient access, provider support and other various administrative duties including maintaining medical records for Adult Outpatient services, mobile response teams, medication support, same day services, Sempervirens and the Crisis Stabilization Unit. These positions support the highest level of service delivery offered to individuals in our county with specialty behavioral health needs. Additionally, these positions are essential in supporting the billing process for these high-end services. This Branch has been working together navigating multiple existing vacancies without requesting recruitment due to the current hiring freeze. With two more vacancies anticipated with notice of retirements scheduled in February and May of 2025, the Branch wishes to fill three Medical Office Assistants at this time to assist with the burden placed on the department and to mitigate further budget deficit increases due to negative impacts to billing of mental health services.
The Services Support Assistant I/II position provides assistance to Child Welfare Services (CWS) by performing tasks related to the improvement of family functioning. This position directly works with the Court Clerical Unit and is tasked with many duties such as filing court reports, sending court hearing notices, acting as CWS liaison at all Juvenile court hearing and recording internal minutes from those hearings, processing psychotropic medication court orders, acting as the custodian of records for CWS, disseminating subpoenas, processing records request and other court related support functions. This unit supports approximately 350 court cases open at any given time and this position will be one of two Services Support Assistants in the unit.
The Senior Program Manager - Behavioral Health will oversee half of the Children’s Behavioral Health Programs. Their teams will be comprised of Supervising Mental Health Clinicians, direct services staff and support staff. The Senior Program Manager - Behavioral Health will provide program oversight. They will work with their teams to bolster quality and compliant care for young people in our community. They will work collaboratively with community partners, system partners such as CWS and Probation and contracted provider partners. This Branch has already seen two retirements and is expecting another in March 2025. In light of the current fiscal climate and working with the hiring freeze, this Branch has made the decision to request this position be provided an exception to the hiring freeze and intends to leave the other position vacant once they retire. It is the intent of the Children’s Behavioral Health Branch to function with two managers and leave the third position vacant.
Therefore, DHHS recommends that your Board provide an exception to the hiring freeze for three Medical Office Assistant I/II, one Services Support Assistant I/II and one Senior Program Manager- Behavioral Health for the current fiscal year (FY) 2024-25.
SOURCE OF FUNDING:
Mental Health Fund 1170424
Social Services Fund 1160508
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
|
Expenditures (1170424, 1160508) |
FY24-25 |
FY25-26 Projected* |
FY26-27 Projected* |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$71,373 |
$408,252 |
$449,078 |
|
Total Expenditures |
$71,373 |
$408,252 |
$449,078 |
*Projected amounts are estimates and are subject to change.
|
Funding Sources (1170424, 1160508) |
FY24-25 |
FY25-26 Projected* |
FY26-27 Projected* |
|
State/Federal Funds |
$71,373 |
$408,252 |
$449,078 |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$71,373 |
$408,252 |
$449,078 |
*Projected amounts are estimates and are subject to change.
Narrative Explanation of Financial Impact:
The Medical Office Assistant I/II positions reside in fund 1170, budget unit 424 and is supported through Realignment (100%) funding. The position allocation and associated revenues and expenditures are included in the approved FY 2024-25 budget at $54,213 for 1.0 FTE for the Medical Office Assistant I/II position. This total is based on a full year of salary and benefits. As this FY has now entered the third quarter, and the process to fill a recruitment takes time, fiscal projections assume an anticipated start date of April 27, 2025, if approved by your Board. It will be likely this current FY 2024-25 impact will be $10,426 for 1.0 FTE.
The Services Support Assistant I/II position allocation resides in fund 1160, budget unit 508, and is split out on the County expense Claim based on time studies of Social Worker Staff. The reimbursement percentages for these positions are supported by Federal and State reimbursement for Specialty Mental Health Services (30%), Department of Health Care Services (2%) and County Realignment (68%). The position allocation and associated revenues and expenditures are included in the approved FY 2024-25 budget at $57,851 for the Services Support Assistant I/II position. As this FY has now entered the third quarter, and the process to fill a recruitment takes time, fiscal projections assume an anticipated start date of April 27, 2025, if approved by your Board. It will be likely this current FY 2024-25 impact will be $11,123.
The Senior Program Manager- Behavioral Health position resides in fund 1170, budget unit 424 and is supported through Federal and State reimbursement for Specialty Mental Health Service (65%), Realignment (15%), Grants (12%) and Mental Health Services Act (8%). The position allocation and associated revenues and expenditures are included in the approved FY 2024-25 budget at $150,659 for the Senior Program Manager- Behavioral Health position. This total is based on a full year of salary and benefits. As this FY is now into the third quarter, and the process to fill a recruitment takes time, fiscal projections assume an anticipated start date of April 27, 2025, if approved by your Board. It will be likely this current FY 2024-25 impact will be $28,973.
In the financial impact chart, the figures are based on 3.0 FTE of Medical Office Assistant I/II classification, 1.0 FTE Services Support Assistant I/II, and 1.0 FTE of Senior Program Manager- Behavioral Health classification for which the exception is requested for an assumption of 10 weeks of service in the current FY 2024-25. This projection is based on an assumed start date of April 27, 2025, if approved by your Board.
There are no budget adjustments needed to fill these positions in FY 2024-25 as the position that DHHS is requesting to fill is already budgeted. DHHS has already taken steps to freeze hiring, make budget cuts, and reorganize the department’s interdepartmental cost structures. Early indications point to these budget reduction strategies reducing the fund balance deficits in the current FY and eliminating them entirely in coming FYs.
STAFFING IMPACT:
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impact:
Only vacated positions already budgeted in the adopted FY 24-25 budget are being considered for filling and only after ensuring the position would be utilized to meet mandates and allow for staff to continue to generate revenue.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
Your board could choose not to allow recruitment for Medical Office Assistant I/II, Services Support Assistant I/II and Senior Program Manager-Behavioral Health in the current FY, however, this is not recommended. Leaving these positions unfilled could lead to lack of compliance with state mandates, a loss of federal and state claiming and leaves DHHS vulnerable to non-compliance by not meeting internal staffing needs.
ATTACHMENTS:
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PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Meeting of: N/A
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